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Sprague,  William  Buell,  179 

-1876. 
Letters  on  practical 


LETTERS 


ON 


PRACTICAL  SUBJECTS, 


TO 


A   DAUGHTER. 


_ — 


BY  WILLIAM  B.  SPRAGUE,  D.D. 

PASTOR    OF   THE    SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    IN    ALBANY. 


FOURTH  AMERICAN  EDITION, 

REVISED    AND    EXLARGED. 


ALBANY: 

E.  H.  PEASE.  82  STATE-STREET. 

1846. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


The  following  letters  were  originally  designed 
to  be  preserved  in  manuscript,  as  a  legacy  to  a 
motherless  child.  The  circumstances  which  have 
resulted  in  their  being  given  to  the  world  it  is 
unnecessary  to  state.  The  author  has  only  to  add 
his  earnest  prayer  that  they  may  be  read  with 
some  degree  of  advantage  by  young  females  into 
whose  hands  they  may  happen  to  fall ;  and  espe- 
cially by  those  whom  the  righteous  providence  of 
God  has  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  maternal  care 
and  instruction. 

December  1,  1521 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/lettersonpracticOOspra 


PREFACE     TO    THE     SECOND     EDITION. 


The  first  edition  of  this  book  was  published 
without  the  author's  name,  and  without  the  least 
expectation  that  a  second  would  ever  be  called  for. 
Repeated  requests  however  were  made  at  an  early 
period,  that  the  work  should  be  republished  in  a 
somewhat  enlarged  form  ;  and  but  for  professional 
engagements,  these  requests  would  sooner  have 
been  complied  with.  The  letters  which  compose 
the  present  volume  are,  with  some  slight  variation, 
on  the  same  subjects  with  those  of  the  first  edi- 
tion ;  though  they  have  all  been  rewritten,  and 
most  of  them  essentially  altered  and  enlarged. 
Indeed  the  book  as  it  now  appears,  though  it  is 
styled  a  second  edition,  contains  but  few  pages  of 
the  work  as  it  was  originally  published.  It  has 
been  the  design  of  the  writer  to  adapt  it,  in  its  pre- 
sent form,   to  the  various  exigencies  of  a  young 


PREFACE. 


female,  and  to  furnish  her  with  counsel  and  in- 
struction which  may  be  useful,  not  only  during 
the  period  of  her  education,  but  also  in  subsequent 
life.  Though  the  letters  are  addressed  to  his  own 
child,  he  regards  her  as  the  representative  of  young 
females  in  general  ;  and  his  object  in  writing  them 
will  be  fully  answered,  if  they  shall  contribute, 
in  the  humblest  degree,  to  elevate  the  standard  of 
female  acquisitions  and  female  character. 

Albany,  Atrril  12,  1831. 


PREFACE    TO    THE    THIRD     EDITION. 


In  offering  a  new  edition  of  this  work  to  the 
public,  the  author  has  availed  himself  of  the 
privilege  of  making  some  additions. 

The  history  of  this  work,  since  the  last  genuine 
edition  was  published,  has  been  at  once  amusing 
and  vexatious.  In  the  course  of  the  last  year, 
notwithstanding  a  genuine  edition,  published 
under  the  direction  of  the  London  Tract  Society, 
was  circulating  in  Great  Britain,  some  bookseller 
in  Glasgow  took  it  into  his  head  to  republish  the 
work,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Daughter's  own 
Book,"  omitting  such  parts  as  would  be  likely  to 
give  offence  to  Unitarians,  or  to  lead  its  readers  to 
suppose  that  it  was  of  American  origin.  A  book- 
seller in  Boston  seeing  it  advertised  in  a  British 
catalogue,  imported  it  as  a  foreign  work,  and  has 
since  published  two  editions  of  it.     Though  the 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

author  has  discovered  in  it  no  interpolations,  he 
has  discovered  very  material  omissions,  which 
give  it  quite  a  different  character  from  the  original 
work,  and  he  feels  himself  bound  to  state  that 
this  is  the  only  edition  extant  for  which  he  is  in 
any  way  responsible. 

Albany,  August  1,  1834. 


CONTENTS 


LETTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY, 

LETTER  II. 

EARLY    FRIENDSHIPS, 


LETTER  IV. 

EDUCATION. VARIOUS    BRANCHES,   . 

LETTER  V. 

EDUCATION.  DOMESTIC    ECONOMY,   . 

LETTER  VI. 

GENERAL    READING, 

LETTER  VII. 

INDEPENDENCE    OF    MIND, 


Page. 
13 


18 


LETTER  III. 

EDUCATION.  GENERAL    DIRECTIONS,  .  .       32 


45 


62 


96 


X  CONTEXTS. 

LETTER    VIII. 

Page. 

FORMING    THE    MANNERS,  ....     107 

LETTER  IX. 
CONVERSATION, 120 

LETTER  X. 
AMUSEMENTS,  .......     136 

LETTER  XI. 

INTERCOURSE    WITH    THE    WORLD,        .  .  .    151 

LETTER   XII. 
MARRIAGE, 162 

LETTER    XIII. 

FORMING    RELIGIOUS    SENTIMENTS,        .  .  .     1S2 

LETTER  XIV. 

PROPER    MODE    OF    TREATING    RELIGIOUS     ERROR,     194 

LETTER  XV. 
PRACTICAL    RELIGION,  .....    202 

LETTER    XVI. 

SELF    KNOWLEDGE,    .  .  .  .  .  .217 

LETTER  XVII. 
SELF    GOVERNMENT,  .....    230 


COIVTE1VTS.  xi 

LETTER  XVIII. 


HUMILITY,  .... 

LETTER  XIX. 
DEVOTION,         .... 


Page. 

242 


252 


LETTER  XX. 

CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE,  .  .  .  .261 

LETTER  XXI. 
CHRISTIAN    ZEAL,       ......    273 

LETTER    XXII. 
IMPROVEMENT    OF    TIME,  .....    289 

LETTER    XXIII. 
PREPARATION    FOR    DEATH,  ....    29S 


^ 


LETTERS 

O.N 

PRACTICAL   SUBJECTS. 


LETTER  I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


My  Dear  Child  —  It  is  for  the  heart  of  the  pa- 
rent alone,  adequately  to  conceive  of  the  tender 
responsibilities  that  belong  to  the  parental  relation. 
It  is  impossible,  if  he  have  the  feelings  of  a  man 
—  much  more  of  a  Christian  —  that  he  should  con- 
template a  beloved  child  coming  forward  into  life, 
and  beginning  a  career  for  eternity,  without  agitat- 
ing in  his  own  bosom  the  question,  what  the  pro- 
bable condition  of  that  child  may  be  in  the  future 
stages  of  existence  ?  And,  if  I  mistake  not,  there 
are  some  special  reasons  why  the  solicitude  of  a 
parent  should  be  awakened  by  contemplating  the 
condition  of  a  daughter  during  the  critical  period 
to  which  I  have  referred.  In  addition  to  all  the 
other  circumstances  which  render  her  an  object  of 
deep  interest,  and  in  which  she  shares  m  common 


14  LETTERS     TO 

with  children  of  the  other  sex,  she  is,  in  a  higher 
degree  than  they,  dependant  on  parental  aid  :  there 
is  a  sort  of  natural  defencelessness  in  her  condition, 
independently  of  the  fostering  care  of  those  from 
whom  under  God  she  received  her  being,  that 
makes  an  appeal  to  a  parent's  heart,  which,  if  it  be 
not  a  heart  of  stone,  he  will  strive  in  vain  to  re- 
sist. 

If  I  should  say  that  the  common  feelings  of  pa- 
rental solicitude  have  something  to  do  in  dictating 
the  plan  of  addressing  the  following  letters  to  you, 
I  should   certainly  tell  you  the  truth,  but  not  the 
whole  truth ;    for  your  circumstances,  though  by 
no  means  peculiar  to  yourself,  have  been  pre-emi- 
nently fitted  to  give  you  a  high  place  not  only  in 
the  affections  but  the  sympathies  of  your  father. 
It  was  my  lot,   in  the  wise  but  mysterious  provi- 
dence of  God,  to  see  your  mother  taken  from  you 
at  an  age  when  you  were  incapable  of  estimating 
her  affection  or  your  loss ;  and  to  find  myself  at 
the  same  moment  looking  for  the  last  time  on  the 
cold  remains  of  a  beloved  wife,  and  listening  to  the 
unconscious    but    piercing  cries  of   a   motherless 
child.     While  I  shall  always  remember  that  mo- 
ment with  emotions  not  to  be  told,  I  can  never  fail 
to  connect  with  it  a  recollection  of  the  goodness  of 
God  in  ordering  so  favorably  the  circumstances  of 
your   infancy,    and  in   giving  you,    in  due    time, 


A     DAUGHTER.  15 

another  mother,  who  counts  it  a  privilege  to  do  her 
utmost  to  make  you  good,  and  useful,  and  happy 
You  will  instantly  perceive  that  the  circumstances 
to  which  I  have  now  adverted,  could  hardly  fail  to 
awaken  a  deep  and  permanent  interest  in  a  father's 
heart  ;  and  I  assure  you  they  have  had  much  to  do 
in  bringing  me  to  the  resolution  to  write  the  fol- 
lowing letters. 

That  you  maybe  the  better  prepared  to  estimate 
the  importance  of  the  various  topics  to  which  I  in- 
tend, in  these  letters,  to  direct  your  attention,  I  beg 
you  to  remember  that  what  you  are  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  or  twenty,  you  probably  will  be,  making 
due  allowance  for  the  change  of  circumstances,  in 
every  future  period  of  life.  In  other  words,  your 
character  will  by  that  time,  in  all  probability,  have 
acquired  a  fixed  direction  ;  —  a  direction  which  will 
last  through  all  the  scenes  of  your  prosperity  and 
adversity  to  your  dying  hour  ;  which  will  influence 
and  control  all  your  prospects  as  it  respects  com- 
fort, respectability,  and  usefulness  here ;  and 
which  will  go  farther,  and  shed  upon  your  pros- 
pects for  a  future  world  the  brightness  of  immor- 
tal glory,  or  the  blackness  of  endless  despair.  I 
admit  that  there  are  many  exceptions  from  this  re- 
mark ;  but  I  appeal  to  the  records  of  human  expe- 
rience, I  appeal  to  the  observation  of  any  indi- 
vidual who  has  been  accustomed  carefully  to  no- 


16  LETTERS     TO 

tice  facts  on  this  subject,  whether  the  general  truth 
be  not  as  above  stated  —  That  in  the  great  majority 
of  cases,  the  character  of  a  young  female,  at  the 
close  of  her  education,  is  formed  for  life  —  of 
course,  formed  for  eternity  ?  I  am  sure  this  con- 
sideration cannot  fail,  if  you  duly  estimate  it,  to 
give  deep  interest  to  every  effort,  and  especially 
every  parental  effort,  that  is  made  to  form  you  to 
virtue  and  happiness. 

I  am  aware  that  much  has  been  written  on  the 
subjects  upon  which  I  am  to  address  you,  and  with 
a  degree  of  ability  to  which  I  can  make  no  claim. 
Nevertheless,  I  am  constrained  to  say  that  most  of 
the  books  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  designed 
for  the  special  benefit  of  young  females,  have 
seemed  to  me  either  deficient  in  some  important 
topics  of  instruction,  or  to  contain  views  on  some 
other  points  from  which  an  intelligent  Christian 
parent  would  be  compelled  to  dissent.  Far  be  it 
from  me  to  intimate  that  I  expect  in  these  letters 
to  supply  all  the  deficiencies,  or  correct  all  the  mis- 
takes, of  those  who  have  gone  before  me  :  I  only 
promise  that  the  views  which  I  communicate  shall 
be  such  as,  after  mature  reflection,  and  I  trust  I 
may  add,  earnest  prayer,  appear  to  me  to  be  con- 
sonant with  reason,  experience,  and  scripture.  I 
have  no  ambition  to  say  anything  that  shall  appear 
new  or  striking,  but  my  whole  object  is  to  give  you 


A      DAUGHTER.  17 

plain  parental  advice  on  topics  which  do  not  Jose 
their  importance  with  their  novelty.  And  it  is  a 
thought  upon  which  I  dwell  with  some  interest, 
that,  though  you  might  read  the  writings  of  a 
stranger  with  indifference,  you  will  peruse  these 
letters  with  attention  and  perhaps  advantage,  when 
the  heart  that  dictates  them  shall  have  ceased  to 
beat,  and  the  hand  by  which  they  are  penned  shall 
have  mouldered  into  dust. 

I  hardly  need  tell  you  that  my  first  wish  and 
most  fervent  prayer  on  your  behalf  is,  that  you 
may  remember  your  Creator  in  the  days  of  your 
youth.  Unless  you  embrace  the  gospel  as  a  re- 
deeming and  purifying  system,  in  other  words, 
unless  you  become  a  practical  follower  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  it  would  profit  you  nothing  in  the 
end,  though  you  should  have  every  other  accom- 
plishment which  can  adorn  your  character  or  re- 
commend you  to  the  world.  In  the  progress  of 
these  letters,  I  shall  dwell  on  the  subject  of  prac- 
tical religion  with  some  degree  of  particularity ; 
and  I  wish  you  distinctly  to  remember,  while  I  am 
directing  your  attention  to  other  subjects,  that  they 
are  all  subordinate  to  this.  To  see  you  walking 
in  the  truth,  and  keeping  the  commandments  of 
God,  will,  more  than  any  thing  else,  gladden  the 
heart  of 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 
2 


LETTER  II. 


EARLY    FRIENDSHIPS. 


My  Dear  Child  —  The  development  of  the  so- 
cial principle  is  one  of  the  earliest  exhibitions  of 
human  nature.  This,  in  connexion  with  the  be- 
nevolent affections,  constitutes  the  foundation  of 
friendship.  Hence  we  find  that  strong  attach- 
ments often  exist  between  children,  long  before 
the  judgment  is  sufficiently  developed  to  decide 
in  respect  to  the  qualities  which  should  enter  into 
the  character  of  a  friend.  A  glance  at  your  own 
short  experience  will  convince  you  that  it  has  been 
conformed  to  this  law  of  our  condition.  You  will 
find  on  a  review  of  your  childhood,  that  you  have 
formed  many  friendships,  without  much  discrimi- 
nation ;  some  of  which  may  have  already  given 
place  to  others  ;  while,  some  perhaps,  may  con- 
tinue to  the  evening  of  life. 

The  importance  of  early  friendships  is  to  be  es- 
timated by  the  influence  which  they  exert  in  form- 
ing the  character.  That  this  influence  must  be 
very  great,  no  one  can  question  who  has  considered 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  19 

either  the  constitution  of  our  nature,  or  the  ac- 
tual results  which  are  found  in  experience.  We 
are  originally  constituted  creatures  of  habit,  subject 
in  a  high  degree,  to  the  influence  of  example  ;  and 
though  many  of  the  impressions  which  the  mind 
receives  in  childhood  are  necessarily  worn  out  in 
its  progress  to  maturity,  yet  those  which  remain 
are  wrought  into  the  very  texture  of  the  charac- 
ter, and  become  the  most  efficient  principles  of 
action.  Every  person  who  attentively  examines  his 
own  character,  or  who  is  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  process  by  which  the  characters  of  others 
have  been  formed,  will  find  sufficient  proof  of  the 
reality  and  extent  of  this  influence.  Who  has  not 
heard,  on  witnessing  the  wreck  of  parental  hopes 
in  a  ruined  and  wretched  child,  that  it  was  the 
melancholy  result  of  bad  early  associations  ?  And 
who,  on  the  other  hand,  has  not  watched  with  de- 
light the  benign  influence  of  a  virtuous  friendship 
upon  the  unfolding  faculties  of  the  mind  and  dis- 
positions of  the  heart  ? 

If  so  much  importance  be  attached  to  the  friend- 
ships which  you  form  in  early  life,  3rou  will  at 
once  perceive  that  the  choice  of  your  friends  ought 
to  be  a  matter  of  the  most  deliberate  caution :  For 
though  your  earliest  attachments  must  necessarily 
result  from  circumstances  not  within  your  control, 
yet,  in  respect  to  those  which  are  formed  subse- 


20  LETTERS     TO 

quently  to  the  period  of  childhood,  you  may  call 
to  your  aid  judgment  and  reflection.  A  rule  on 
this  subject  which  you  should  never  fail  to  observe 
is,  not  too  hastily  to  proffer  your  confidence  —  not 
to  consent  to  an  unreserved  intimacy  with  any  one, 
till  you  have  gained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
character.  The  effect  of  disregarding  this  rule 
would  be  to  lower  the  estimate  which  would  be 
formed  of  your  friendship,  to  expose  you,  at  least, 
to  the  charge  of  imprudence,  and  not  improbably, 
to  many  more  serious  evils.  You  may  safely  cal- 
culate that  considerable  suspicion  is  to  be  attached 
to  professions  which  are  made  by  those  who  have 
had  little  opportunity  to  know  you  ;  while  you 
may  reasonably  expect,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
a  friendship  which  is  the  result  of  an  intimate 
acquaintance,  will  be  a  lasting  source  of  pleasure 
and  advantage. 

In  respect  to  the  character  of  your  particular 
friends,  I  hardly  need  say  that  you  are  not  to  ex- 
pect to  find  those  who  are  free  from  imperfection 
or  sin.  You  will  recollect  that  in  common  with 
yourself,  they  belong  to  a  race  of  fallen  beings ; 
and  it  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  there  should 
not  be  occasion,  both  on  your  part  and  theirs,  for 
mutual  condescension  to  each  other's  infirmities, 
and  mutual  forgiveness  of  each  other's  errors. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  selection  of  vour  friends,  you 


A     DAUGHTER.  21 

may  safel\*  place  your  standard  as  high  as  is  con- 
sistent with  our  present  fallen  state  ;  and  you 
ought,  in  no  case,  unnecessarily  to  contract  an 
intimate  friendship  with  one  whose  example, 
on  the  whole,  you  would  not  choose  to  imitate '; 
for  this  obvious  reason,  that  the  tendency  of  such 
a  friendship  to  assimilate  its  subjects  is  so  strong, 
that  there  is  little  probability,  in  any  given  case, 
of  its  being  counteracted. 

One  quality  which  is  of  great  importance  in  an 
intimate  friend,  is  an  amiable  temper.  Everyone 
knows  how  much  of  the  unhappiness  of  life  results 
from  the  haughty,  irritable,  and  unkind  feelings 
of  those  with  whom  we  are  even  remotely  asso- 
ciated ;  of  course,,  the  evil  becomes  greater  in 
proportion  to  the  nearness  of  the  relation  which 
we  sustain  to  them.  A  person  of  an  unaimable 
temper  was  never  formed  either  to  enjoy  or  impart 
the  highest  pleasure  connected  with  friendship  ;  for 
though  one  of  this  character  may  be  sincerely 
attached  to  you,  and  may  be,  on  the  whole,  quite 
desirous  of  promoting  your  happiness,  it  would  be 
passing  strange  if  your  intercourse  with  her  should 
not  frequently  be  embittered  by  hasty  or  unkind 
expressions.  I  advise  you,  therefore,  in  the  selec- 
tion of  your  friends,  to  have  particular  reference 
to  the  natural  disposition ;  and  as  a  general  rule, 
not  to  admit  to  your  unreserved  confidence   any 


22  LETTERS     TO 

who  would  be  likely  often  to  wound  your  sensibility, 
and  whose  feelings  are  not,  and  cannot  be  attuned 
to  the  enjoyments  of  a  refined  friendship. 

Another  trait  which  it  is  desirable  that  your  inti- 
mate friends  should  possess,  is  a  good  and  cultiva- 
ted understanding.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  are  to 
consider  it  indispensably  requisite  that  a  friend 
should  be  possessed  of  uncommon  genius,  or  should 
have  made  great  attainments  in  any  of  the  depart- 
ments of  science  or  literature  ;  but  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  the  accomplishments  of  which 
I  now  speak,  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  comparatively 
few,  and  that  intellectual  barrenness  which  must 
oppose  an  effectual  barrier  to  all  pleasant  or  useful 
intercourse.  One  important  purpose  which  you 
ought  to  propose  to  yourself  in  an  intimate  friend- 
ship, is  the  culture  of  the  understanding ;  for  be- 
sides the  advantages  for  improvement  which  are 
connected  with  an  unreserved  intercourse,  it  would 
be  obviously  wrong  that  so  much  time  as  that  in- 
tercourse would  probably  occupy,  should  be  spent, 
without  contributing,  in  any  degree,  to  the  strength 
or  development  of  the  intellectual  faculties.  If 
your  most  intimate  associates  are  persons  of 'good 
sense  and  a  good  degree  of  improvement,  you  can 
hardly  fail  to  derive  some  intellectual  advantage 
from  mingling  in  their  society;  you  will  breathe 
an  atmosphere  which  will  operate  almost  insensibly 


A     DAUGHTER.  23 

to  invigorate  the  powers  of  your  mind.  But  if,  on 
the  other  hand,  you  are  most  conversant  with 
those,  whose  minds  are  cast  in  an  inferior  mould, 
and  whose  opportunities  of  mental  cultivation  are 
very  narrow,  you  will  not  only  lose  much  positive 
advantage,  but  it  will  be  strange  if  your  own  mind 
does  not  gradually  come  to  sympathize  in  the  imbe- 
cility and  barrenness  with  which  it  is  so  constantly 
brought  in  contact. 

As  another  quality  which  you  ought  to  regard 
in  the  choice  of  your  friends,  I  would  mention  dis- 
cretion. This  is  something  quite  distinct  from 
genius,  but  though  a  less  dazzling  quality,  it  is 
probably  more  important  both  to  happiness  and 
usefulness.  Many  a  female  of  a  brilliant  and  cul- 
tivated mind  has  sacrificed  her  own  character  and 
the  comfort  of  her  friends  to  indiscretion.  If  your 
most  intimate  friends  are  of  this  character,  the  evil 
to  yourself  will  be  twofold :  you  will  partake  of 
the  unhappiness  which  they  will  frequently  bring 
upon  themselves,  and  you  will  often  yourself  be 
subject  to  embarrassment  and  perplexity  in  conse- 
quence of  their  imprudence.  Never  be  attracted, 
then,  in  the  selection  of  a  friend,  by  any  appear- 
ance of  eccentricity.  In  almost  every  case,  you 
will  find  it  associated  with  some  kind  of  indiscre- 
tion ;  and  wherever  this  exists  in  any  considera- 
ble degree,  it  will  be  enough  to  poison  the  most 


24  LETTERSTO 

intimate  friendship.  Let  your  friends  be  those 
who  have  the  reputation  of  being  prudent  and  ju- 
dicious. Better  that  they  should  possess  these 
qualities  than  every  artificial  accomplishment. 

I  will  only  add  in  respect  to  the  character  of 
your  particular  friends,  that  it  is  exceedingly  desi- 
rable that  they  should  be  persons  who  maintain  a 
serious  regard  for  religion,  and  who  live  under  its 
practical   influence.       In    the   formation-  of  your 
friendships  as  well  as  in  every  thing  else,  you  are 
to  recollect  that  you  are  an  immortal  and  account- 
able creature,  and  to  keep  in  view  your  prepara- 
tion for  a  future  world.     Nothing  will  serve  more 
effectually  to  prevent  or  banish  all  serious  impres- 
sions than  an  unrestrained  intercourse   with   the 
vain    and    careless.     Whatever   other    attractions 
such  persons  may  possess,  you  may  rest  assured 
that  the  single  fact  that  they  treat  religion  with 
levity  or  indifference,  is  a  sufficient  reason  why 
they  should  not  be  your  chosen  friends.     Indeed 
the  more  engaging  they  are  in  other  respects,  the 
more  reason  would  you  have  to  dread  their  influ- 
ence as    companions ;  because  they  would  throw 
around  an  irreligious  life  so  many  more  dangerous 
attractions.     Let  your   intimate  friends  therefore 
be,  at   least,   persons,    who   pay   a   conscientious 
regard  to  the  duties  of  religion :  and  if  they  have 
deeply  felt  its  power,  you  ought  to  regard  it  as  an 


A     DAUGHTER.  25 

additional  recommendation.  If  you  rightly  im- 
prove the  privilege,  you  will  not  have  occasion  at 
the  close  of  life,  to  lament  that  your  most  intimate 
associates  were  persons  of  exemplary  piety.  But 
if  you  should  choose  friends  of  an  opposite  cha- 
racter, you  have  great  reason  to  fear  that  the 
remembrance  of  it  will  embitter  your  closing  hour 
with  unavailing  regrets. 

Let  me  here  remark,  as  a  direction  which  you 
will  do  well  always  to  keep  in  mind,  that  your 
particular  friends  should  not  be  very  numerous. 
My  reasons  for  this  advice  are  the  following.  To 
meet  all  the  claims  which  many  intimate  friend- 
ships would  involve,  would  require  too  much  of 
your  time  ;  and  would  necessarily  interfere  with 
the  duties  connected  with  your  station  in  life. 
You  could  derive  no  advantage  from  having  many 
intimate  friends,  which  would  not  be  as  well 
secured  to  you  by  a  smaller  circle  ;  and  indeed  just 
in  proportion  as  the  number  is  extended  beyond 
a  moderate  limit,  you  will  defeat  the  purposes 
which  such  a  friendship  is  designed  to  answer. 
For  it  is  impossible,  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
that  you  should  bestow  the  same  degree  of  confi- 
dence and  affection  upon  a  great  number  as  upon 
a  few ;  and  as  the  advantage  to  be  derived  is  in 
some  measure,  in  proportion  to  the  strength  and 
intimacy  of  the  friendship,  it  is  obvious  that  the 


26  LETTERS     TO 

more  numerous  is  your  circle  of  particular  friends, 
the  less  satisfaction  and  benefit  you  can  expect  to 
receive.  It  is  equally  true,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  greater  the  number  to  whom  you  proffer 
your  confidence,  the  less  will  your  confidence  be 
valued  in  each  particular  case  ;  for  there  is  no 
exception  here  from  the  general  rule  that  things 
are  cheap  in  proportion  as  they  are  common.  Be 
satisfied  then,  with  a  few  choice  friends,  and  be 
not  ambitious  to  be  the  confidant  of  all  your  ac- 
quaintance. 

Another  suggestion  closely  connected  with  the 
one  which  I  have  just  made,  is,  that  you  should  not 
be  fickle  in  your  friendships ;  —  not  hastily  give 
up  one  friend  for  the  sake  of  gaining  another. 
Wherever  this  disposition  is  discovered,  it  is  sure 
to  excite  disgust,  and  to  attach  suspicion  to  any 
subsequent  professions.  Be  as  cautious  as  you 
will  in  forming  your  attachments,  but  when  they 
are  once  formed,  never  let  them  be  broken  unless 
on  some  ground  that  you  can  justify  to  your  rea- 
son and  conscience.  One  single  instance  of  the 
unreasonable  desertion  of  a  friend,  would  do  an 
injury  to  your  character  which  time  could  scarcely 
wear  out,   or  future  fidelity  retrieve. 

It  only  remains  that  I  suggest  a  few  hints  in 
respect  to  the  manner  in  which  your  intercourse 
with  your  friends  should  be  regulated.     That  you 


A     DAUGHTER.  27 

should  treat  them  with  a  high  degree  of  confi- 
dence is  implied  in  the  fact  that  you  extend  to 
them  a  particular  friendship.  Never  wound  them 
by  any  unreasonable  expressions  of  distrust,  or  by 
withholding  from  them  any  thing  which  they  have 
a  right  to  know.  Be  particularly  cautious  not  to 
excite  curiosity  by  dropping  a  hint  in  relation  to 
subjects  which,  from  any  consideration,  you  do 
not  feel  willing  fully  to  explain.  Such  mysterious 
allusions  often  excite  painful  suspicions  in  the 
mind,  and  have  not  unfrequently  been  instrumen- 
tal in  separating  chief  friends.  It  would  be  too 
paltry  a  consideration  for  which  to  wound  the 
feelings,  or  to  expose  yourself  to  the  loss,  of  a 
valued  friend,  that  you  might  be  amused  by  wit- 
nessing the  common  operations  of  curiosity. 

But  while  I  would  have  you  as  unreserved  in 
your  intercourse  with  your  friends  as  the  relation 
which  you  bear  to  them  demands,  I  would  also 
have  you  beware  of  the  opposite  extreme  of  pour- 
ing into  their  ears  every  thing  which  you  may 
happen  to  know,  without  discrimination.  In  your 
intercourse  with  a  censorious  world,  it  would  be 
strange  if  you  should  not  sometimes  hear  remarks 
upon  their  characters,  which,  however  unmeaning 
in  themselves,  could  not  be  repeated  in  their  hear- 
ing, without  giving  pain.  Make  it  a  rule,  therefore, 
never  to  carry  any  unfavorable  report  to  a  friend, 


2S  LETTERS     TO 

unless  you  believe  that  it  will  m  some  way  or 
other  be  productive  of  good.  Not  a  small  part  of 
the  ill  rumors  which  exist  in  society  are  to  be 
traced  to  a  habit  of  gossipping,  rather  than  to  any 
settled  purpose  to  slander  ;  and  if  you  should  carry 
every  thing  of  this  kind  that  you  hear  to  your 
friends  to  whom  it  relates,  no  doubt  they  would 
often  be  severely  wounded,  where  there  was  no 
positive  intention  of  attacking  their  character. 

I  would  say,  too,  that  in  your  intercourse  with 
each  of  your  friends,  you  ought  to  maintain  a 
scrupulous  reserve,  in  respect  to  what  may  have 
been  confidentially  intrusted  to  you  by  others. 
Your  duty  requires  that  you  should  pay  a  sacred 
regard  to  the  confidence  which  each  reposes  in 
you  ;  and  none  of  them  can  reasonably  claim  that 
you  should  betray  another  for  their  gratification. 
If  you  have  several  intimate  friends,  who  are  not 
at  the  same  time  the  intimate  friends  of  each 
other,  you  should  bear  in  mind  that  in  disclosing 
to  one  a  secret  which  has  been  committed  to  you 
by  another,  you  violate  a  fundamental  principle  of 
good  friendship ;  for  however  you  may  confide  in 
the  prudence  and  good  faith  of  the  person  to  whom 
you  make  the  disclosure,  you  obviously  assume  a 
right  which  does  not  belong  to  you  —  that  of  giving 
notoriety  to  the  private  concerns  of  an  individual 
beyond  what   you  have    reason   to  believe    were 


A     DAUGHTER.  29 

her  intentions  and  wishes.  And  the  case  is  not 
materially  different  in  this  respect,  even  where 
the  friend  who  confides  a  secret  to  you,  and  the 
friend  to  whom  you  confide  the  same,  are  intimate 
with  each  other,  there  might  be  many  reasons 
which  would  render  it  desirable  that  it  should  not 
be  known  to  a  third  person,  however  friendly, 
which  might  not  exist  in  respect  to  yourself; 
and  at  any  rate,  your  friend  does  not  feel,  and 
ought  not  to  feel,  when  she  intrusts  a  private  con- 
cern to  your  keeping,  in  which  perhaps,  she  alone 
is  interested,  that  she  thereby  relinquishes  the 
privilege  of  deciding  whether  or  not  it  is  to  be 
communicated  to  others.  You  will  therefore  con- 
sider the  secrets  of  each  one  of  your  friends  as  a 
separate  and  independent  trust,  which  you  are 
faithfully  and  sacredly  to  regard. 

There  is  one  duty  of  great  delicacy,  to  which 
you  may  sometimes  be  called  in  your  intercourse 
with  3'our  friends  —  I  mean  that  of  reproof  or  ad- 
monition. Though  I  have  advised  you  to  set  your 
standard  high  in  selecting  your  intimate  associates, 
and  to  choose  those  whom  you  believe  to  be  the 
best  models  of  character,  you  will  not  be  disap- 
pointed to  find  them  sometimes  in  the  wrong  ;  nor 
ought  you  to  make  every  foible  which  you  may 
notice  in  them  the  subject  of  animadversion.  At 
the  same  time  it  admits  of  no  question  that  occa- 


30  LETTERS     TO 

sions  may  arise,  which  will  not  only  warrant,  but 
imperatively  demand,  that  you  should  take  the 
attitude  of  a  reprover ;  and  on  which  to  remain 
silent,  would  be  a  gross  violation  of  the  obligations 
of  friendship.  There  was  a  mutual  pledge  virtu- 
ally given  when  your  friendship  was  formed,  that 
you  would  sacredly  endeavor  to  promote  each 
other's  best  interests ;  and  you  surely  do  not 
redeem  this  pledge,  if  you  suffer  gross  errors  to 
pass  unreproved.  The  great  secret  of  discharg- 
ing this  duty  successfully,  is  to  choose  a  proper 
time  and  place,  and  to  do  it  in  the  spirit  of  gentle- 
ness and  affection.  Whenever  you  take  this  atti- 
tude, instead  of  appearing  to  have  thrown  off  the 
character  of  a  friend,  and  assuming  an  air  of  cold 
severity,  you  should  let  every  expression  and  look 
testify,  that  you  are,  if  possible,  more  under  the 
influence  of  genuine  friendship  than  ever.  If  you 
only  succeed  in  making  an  impression  that  the 
reproof  is  the  honest  dictate  of  true  kindness,  you 
will  be  in  little  danger  of  failing  of  your  object : 
but  if  unhappily  you  leave  the  impression  that  it 
proceeded  from  personal  irritation,  or  from  an 
unreasonable  misconstruction  of  your  conduct,  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  you  should  realize  a 
happy  result. 

In  general,  I  would  say  that  you  ought  to  make 
all  your  intercourse  with  your  friends  as  profitable 


A     D  AT7GHT  ER  .  31 

as  you  can,  both  to  yourself  and  them.  It  is 
hardly  possible  but  that  the  friendships  which  you 
form  should  be  to  you  a  source  of  great  good,  or 
great  evil.  If  the  time  which  you  spend  with 
your  intimate  associates  is  chiefly  devoted,  as  it 
should  be,  to  the  improvement  of  the  intellect  and 
the  heart,  you  will  never  review  it  but  with  feel- 
ings of  approbation.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  given  to  levity  and  vanity,  and  if  those  whom 
you  regard  with  most  affection,  are  co-workers 
with  you  in  murdering  the  hours  which  were 
given  for  better  purposes,  then  you  have  reason  to 
expect  that  the  friendships  which  }^ou  now  form, 
instead  of  being  the  channel  of  blessings,  will 
serve  to  poison  your  moral  sentiments,  and  to 
accumulate  anguish  for  a  dying  hour. 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER  III. 

EDUCATION. GENERAL    DIRECTIONS. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  In  this  and  some  following 
fetters,  I  design  to  give  you  my  views  briefly  on 
the  subject  of  education.  I  say  briefly,  for  the 
subject  is  of  such  extent,  and  has  so  many  impor- 
tant connexions,  that  one  could  scarcely  think  of 
doing  justice  to  it  in  any  thing  short  of  an  extended 
treatise.  I  shall  confine  myself  to  such  hints  as  I 
think  may  be  most  useful  to  you  in  prosecuting 
your  own  education. 

I  would  have  you,  then,  in  the  first  place,  bear 
in  mind  that  the  great  object  of  your  education  is 
to  enable  you  to  bring  into  exercise  the  powers 
which  God  has  given  you  in  such  a  manner  as 
shall  contribute  most  to  his  glory.  For  all  the 
noble  faculties  with  which  you  are  gifted,  you  are 
indebted  to  the  same  Being  who  gave  you  your 
existence;  on  Him  also  you  are  dependant  for  their 
preservation  ;  and  it  is  a  first  dictate  of  reason  that 
they  should  be  employed  in  his  service.  But  these 
faculties  are  evidently  susceptible  of  high  cultiva- 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  33 

tion ;  and  without  it  they  can  never  accomplish 
the  purpose  for  which  they  are  designed.  The 
object  of  education  then  is  twofold;  to  develop 
the  faculties,  and  to  direct  them  ; — to  bring  out 
the  energies  of  the  soul,  and  to  bring  them  to 
operate  to  the  glory  of  the  Creator.  In  other 
words,  it  is  to  render  you  useful  to  the  extent  of 
your  ability. 

From  this  view  of  the  design  of  education  in 
general,  it  would  seem  that  no  one,  certainly  no 
Christian,  could  dissent.  But  who  does  not  know 
that  in  the  education  of  females,  even  this  funda- 
mental principle  has  too  often  been  overlooked  ; 
and  that  too  by  parents  who  have  professed  to 
regulate  their  whole  conduct  by  a  regard  to  Chris- 
tian obligation  ?  Especially  has  this  capital  error 
been  committed  in  substituting  what  is  called  an 
ornamental,  for  a  solid  education  ;  in  taking  more 
care  to  form  the  person  than  to  form  the  mind  ; 
and  the  consequence  of  this  has  been  that  many 
a  girl  of  fine  natural  talents  has  come  forth  to  the 
world  and  shown  us  the  fruit  of  a  long  and  expen- 
sive education,  in  the  marvellous  dexterity  she  has 
acquired  in  the  use  of  her  hands  and  feet.  But 
are  not  females  gifted  with  the  exalted  attribute  of 
reason  as  well  as  the  other  sex  ?  And  where  has 
Providence  intimated  that  in  one  sex  this  gift  is  to 
be  cultivated  with  the  utmost  care,  and  in  the  other 
3 


34  LETTERS     TO 

is  to  be  left  in  all  the  wildness  and  barrenness  of 
nature  ?  What  if  the  sexes  have  not,  in  all 
respects,  the  same  destination  ?  What  if  man  is 
destined  to  stand  forth  in  the  bolder  walks  of 
society ;  and  what  if  woman  has  her  station  allot- 
ted her  more  exclusively,  amidst  the  retired  scenes 
of  domestic  life  ?  This  may  be  a  reason  why 
their  education  should  in  some  respects  be  differ- 
ently conducted  ;  but  it  can  never  be  an  argument 
for  leaving  the  mind  of  the  female  to  rust  with 
ignorance,  or  moulding  her  into  a  pleasant,  ani- 
mated plaything.  If  it  be  desirable  that  the  mind 
of  man  should  expand  and  strengthen  by  exercise, 
it  must  also  be  desirable  that  the  female  mind 
should  share  in  some  degree  the  same  cultivation  : 
otherwise  the  dearest,  tenderest  connexion  of  life, 
which  ono-ht  to  be  but  another  name  for  the  most 
absolute  community  of  interest  and  feeling,  will 
be  converted  into  an  unequal,  unnatural  league 
between  intellectual  refinement,  and  intellectual 
barbarism. 

You  perceive  then  that  the  object  of  female 
education  cannot  be  attained,  without  careful  at- 
tention to  the  culture  of  the  intellect.  And  let  me 
say  that  this  must  extend  to  the  intellect  in  all  its 
powers — to  the  perception,  the  judgment,  the  mem- 
ory, the  reasoning  faculty,  &c.  This  is  important, 
not  only  because  each  of  these  various  faculties 


A     DAUGHTER.  35 

has  its  distinct  office,  and  just  in  proportion  as  it 
is  suffered  to  remain  dormant  or  turned  out  of  its 
proper  direction,  the  end  for  which  it  is  designed 
is  defeated  ;  but  because  the  different  faculties  have 
a  mutual  dependance  upon  each  other,  and  like 
the  parts  of  a  well  adjusted  machine,  operate  most 
legitimately  and  most  effectually  where  the  balance 
is  carefully  preserved.  It  is  true  indeed  that  much 
respect  should  be  paid  to  the  peculiar  constitution 
of  the  mind :  and  it  should  be  trained  to  put  forth 
its  most  commanding  efforts  by  means  of  its  strong- 
est powers  j  nevertheless  there  are  none  of  your 
faculties  which  you  have  a  right  to  neglect  ;  and 
even  the  feeblest  of  them  should  be  cultivated,  at 
least  so  far  that  the  mind  may  attain  its  fair  and 
just  proportion. 

It  is  also  desirable,  in  order  that  you  may  attain 
the  true  end  of  education,  that  you  should,  as  far 
as  possible,  adopt  a  course  which  will  combine 
particular  and  general  utility :  that  is,  the  various 
branches  which  you  pursue,  should  be  such  as 
may  be  turned  to  some  practical  use,  while  they 
minister  to  the  general  culture  of  the  mind,  and 
give  it  the  easy  command  of  its  own  powers. 
The  most  interesting  view  of  the  education  of  the 
mind,  is  that  which  regards  it  as  a  system  designed 
to  bring  out  its  powers,  and  earn'  it  forward  from 
one  degree  of  strength  to  another.     What  though 


36  LETTERSTO 

you  may  gain  ever  so  much  knowledge,  if  every 
new  degree  of  it  is  not  a  new  degree  of  intellec- 
tual power,  you  do  not  reap  the  legitimate  fruit  of 
your  mental  toil.  That  this  important  ohject  may 
be  gained,  accustom  yourself  in  every  branch  of 
study  to  independent  reflection,  and  let  your  mind 
freely  think  its  own  thoughts,  and  be  not  afraid  to 
presume  that  the  text  book  itself,  where  it  is  any 
thing  else  than  the  Bible,  may  be  wrong.  Not 
that  I  would  encourage  in  you  a  habit  of  intellec- 
tual presumption  :  that  in  any  youth  were  disgust- 
ing —  in  a  young  female  it  were  intolerable.  But 
that  habit  of  modest  inquisitiveness,  which  asks 
for  a  reason  for  whatever  it  assents  to,  and  which 
unostentatiously  pushes  its  inquiries  beyond  au- 
thority, or  even  in  the  face  of  authority,  is  always 
to  be  commended  ;  and  is  fitted  above  almost  any 
other  habit  of  mind  to  give  you  a  knowledge  of 
your  powers  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  command  of 
them  on  the  other. 

Let  me  here  say  a  word  in  regard  to  the  use 
and  abuse  of  text  books.  That  you  may  derive 
from  them  important  aid  in  the  prosecution  of 
your  studies  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  there  is 
as  little  question  that  they  are  capable  of  being 
perverted  as  auxiliaries  to  mental  inaction.  The 
true  use  to  be  made  of  them  is,  not  to  supersede, 
but  to  assist  reflection  ;  not  merely  to  communi- 


A     DAUGHTER.  37 

cate  information,  but  to  give  an  impulse  to  the 
intellect,  by  suggesting  hints  and  principles  which 
it  may  follow  out  to  their  legitimate  results.  But 
the  danger  is,  that  while  your  memory  will  be 
laid  under  contribution  to  gather  up  whatever  is 
said  in  the  text  book,  your  other  faculties  will 
find  a  ready  dispensation  ;  and  that  in  your  reci- 
tation you  will  be  satisfied  to  confine  yourself  to 
the  very  letter  of  your  author.  In  order  to  guard 
against  this  evil,  let  what  is  said  in  the  text  book 
be  regarded  as  only  the  basis  of  what  you  are  to 
learn  ;  and  let  it  serve  as  a  guide  to  conduct  you 
into  other  fields  of  thought ;  and  accustom  your- 
self to  scrutinize  every  principle,  and  seek  for  a 
solution  of  every  difficulty,  that  may  present  itself. 
Such  a  use  of  text  books,  while  it  will  not  expose 
your  mind  to  be  enslaved  by  authorities,  or  leave 
any  of  its  faculties  to  rust  through  inaction,  will 
secure  every  positive  advantage  which  a  record 
of  the  labors  of  other  minds  can  impart. 

But  while  you  should  keep  in  view  the  general 
culture  of  your  mind,  it  is  important  that  each 
particular  branch  that  you  pursue  should  be  of 
practical  utility.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  in- 
tellectual labors  of  many  of  the  schoolmen,  pre- 
vious to  the  revival  of  learning  in  Europe,  were 
of  great  extent,  and  were  fitted  to  produce  a  high 
degree  of  mental  acumen.     But    every  one  who 


•  . 


38  LETTERS     TO 

has  looked  into  their  writings,  knows  that  the 
subjects  upon  which  they  employed  their  faculties, 
were  of  little  practical  moment ;  and  that  they 
would  often  pour  out  a  world  of  learned  nonsense 
to  establish  a  point,  which  after  all  was  not  worth 
establishing.  They  indeed,  by  this  means,  ac- 
quired an  extraordinary  power  of  discrimination  ; 
and  this,  the  true  theory  of  education,  certainly 
does  not  overlook ;  but  it  aims  at  this  end  by  em- 
ploying the  mind  upon  subjects  of  practical  utility  ; 
subjects  which  it  can  turn  to  some  account  in  the 
every  day  affairs  of  life.  And  let  me  say  that  it 
is  important  not  only  that  the  knowledge  which 
you  acquire  should  be  practical,  but  that  you 
should  also  gain  the  ability  of  carrying  it  out,  as 
you  may  have  opportunity,  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  human  action.  You  might  have  every 
variety  of  learning,  and  if  withal  you  had  not 
learned  to  reduce  it  to  practice,  you  could  never 
rise  above  an  educated  dunce ;  whereas  a  much 
less  degree  of  knowledge  with  the  ability  of  ap- 
plying it,  would  render  you  at  once  respectable 
and  useful. 

I  have  cautioned  you  against  an  improper  reli- 
ance on  text  books  :  it  is  equally  important  that 
you  should  guard  against  depending  too  much  on 
instructors.  Why  is  it  that  many  a  girl  of  good 
natural  talents,  after  enjoying  the  best  advantages 


A      DAUGHTER.  39 

of  education  for  years,  comes  away  from  school, 
a  mere  smatterer  in  most  branches  included  in 
her  course,  and  thoroughly  versed  in  none  ?  The 
reason  often  is,  that  she  has  contented  herself  with 
being  in  a  literary  atmosphere,  and  going  through 
the  daily  routine  of  recitations  ;  and  while  she  has 
depended  upon  her  instructor  to  solve  every  diffi- 
culty, has  hardly  taxed  herself  with  the  labor  of 
so  much  thought  as  was  necessary  to  apprehend 
his  explanations.  Now  I  wish  you  to  be  deeply 
impressed  with  the  truth  that  all  the  instruction 
in  the  world  will  never  make  you  a  scholar  inde- 
pendently of  your  own  efforts.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  thinking  by  proxy,  any  more  than  breath- 
ing by  proxy  ;  intellectual  acquisitions  must  be  the 
fruit  of  intellectual  labor  ;  and  whoever  will  not 
encounter  the  one  must  be  satisfied  to  remain 
destitute  of  the  other.  I  say  then,  listen  atten- 
tively to  all  that  is  communicated  by  your  in- 
structors, and  endeavor  to  make  the  best  use  of  it  ; 
but  that  this  may  be  the  case,  let  their  thoughts 
become  incorporated  with  your  own,  just  as  you 
do,  or  as  you  ought  to  do,  in  relation  to  the 
thoughts  of  the  authors  whom  you  study.  Your 
instructors  may  indeed  co-operate  with  you  in  the 
cultivation  of  your  mind  ;  but  if  you  undertake  to 
throw    the   whole  burden  upon  them,    the  result 


40  LETTERS     TO 

may  indeed  witness  to  their  fidelity,  but  it  cer- 
tainly will  witness  to  your  folly  and  mortification. 

Closely  connected  with  the  faithful  exercise  of 
your  own  faculties,  independently  of  text  books 
and  teachers,  is  a  habit  of  diligence.  I  do  not 
mean  that  your  whole  time  is  to  be  occupied  in 
study;  this,  while  it  would  expose  your  health, 
would  impair  the  vigor  of  your  faculties,  and  thus 
diminish  your  amount  of  acquisition.  I  would 
have  you  exercise  your  mind  closely  in  study 
when  you  exercise  it  at  all ;  and  exercise  it  as 
constantly  as  is  consistent  with  keeping  it  in  the 
best  state  for  successful  application.  While  you 
profess  to  be  a  student,  regard  study  as  your  mam 
business  ;  and  make  your  amusement  subordinate, 
and,  so  far  as  possible,  subservient  to  it.  Recollect 
that  the  period  allotted  to  your  education  is  com- 
paratively short ;  and  that  every  wasted  hour  of 
this  golden  season  will  tell  fearfully  on  your 
future  destiny. 

I  have  just  alluded  to  the  fact  —  and  I  wish 
here  to  bring  it  more  distinctly  before  you  —  that 
in  order  that  you  may  study  to  the  most  advantage, 
part  of  your  time  must  be  devoted  to  relaxation 
and  exercise  —  how  large  a  part,  your  own  judg- 
ment and  experience  must  decide.  Many  a  young 
female  of  great  promise  has  laid  the  foundation 
of  disease  that  has  carried  her  prematurely  to  the 


A     DAUGHTER.  41 

grave,  by  neglecting  bodily  exercise  during  the 
period  of  her  education.  And  not  only  has  she 
sacrificed  her  life  to  this  unfortunate  habit,  but 
her  intellectual  acquisitions  have  actually  been 
less,  than  if  a  due  proportion  of  her  time  had  been 
devoted  to  the  exercise  of  her  bodily  powers. 
Whether,  therefore,  you  regard  the  preservation 
of  your  life  and  health,  or  your  success  in  the 
various  branches  of  study,  I  earnestly  entreat  you 
to  subject  yourself  to  a  course  of  daily,  systematic 
exercise.  In  following  this  advice  you  will  be 
surprised  to  find  how  much  you  will  gain  in  res- 
pect to  elasticity  of  spirits  and  vigor  of  thought ; 
and  that  you  will  often  accomplish  more  mental 
labor  in  a  single  hour,  than  under  other  circum- 
stances )Tou  would  accomplish  in  a  day  or  even  a 
week.  And  more  than  this,  instead  of  leaving 
school  with  a  constitution  whose  resources  are 
more  than  half  exhausted,  and  with  an  ominous 
paleness  on  your  cheek,  which  seems  to  say  that 
the  grave  is  ready  for  you,  you  will  probably  come 
away  in  the  bloom  of  health,  and  with  strength 
and  resolution  to  engage  in  the  duties  of  the 
station  in  which  Providence  may  place  you. 

Let  me  say  a  word  in  this  connexion  in  regard 
to  the  treatment  which  is  due  from  you  to  your 
instructors.  Next  to  your  parents,  your  instruc- 
tors, if  they  are  faithful,  are  most  actively  engaged 


42  LETTERS     TO 

in  the  formation  of  your  character,  and  they  watch 
over  you  with  a  degree  of  solicitude  inferior  only 
to  that  which  belongs  to  the  parental  relation.  It 
is  obvious,  therefore,  that  not  only  common  pro- 
priety but  gratitude  requires  that  you  should  treat 
them  with  great  deference  and  respect.  You  are 
not  indeed  bound  to  receive  every  or  any  opinion 
they  may  express  without  examination ;  and  you 
are  at  liberty,  unless  for  particular  reasons  they 
should  choose  to  forbid  it,  modestly  to  propose 
difficulties  which  may  be  suggested  even  by  their 
own  instruction ;  but  you  are  always  faithfully  to 
consult  their  wishes,  and  yield  a  ready  obedience 
to  their  requisitions,  and  by  your  kind  and  respect- 
ful deportment,  to  do  what  you  can  to  diminish 
the  burden  of  care  and  perplexity  that  is  insepa- 
rable from  their  employment.  I  should  do  you 
injustice  to  suppose  it  possible  that  you  should  be 
guilty  of  such  indecorum  as  deliberately  to  trifle 
with  the  feelings  of  your  instructors,  or  incur  their 
open  and  direct  censure ;  but  your  conduct  to- 
wards them,  would  never  satisfy  me,  unless  it 
should  be  such  as  to  secure  their  positive  and 
uniform  approbation. 

I  cannot  close  this  letter  without  again  remind- 
ing you  that,  as  an  accountable  and  immortal 
creature,  you  are  to  regard  all  other  kinds  of  im- 
provement  as   subordinate    to   the  culture  of  the 


A     DAUGHTER 


43 


heart  ;  and  that  your  acquisitions,  if  they  are  not 
sanctified  by  divine  grace,  will  ultimately  prove  a 
curse  to  you  rather  than  a  blessing.  While  I  am 
earnestly  desirous  that  you  should  make  the  most 
of  your  opportunities  for  improving  your  mind,  I 
confess  that  I  am  not  without  apprehension  lest 
you  should  neglect  the  one  thing  needful ;  and 
more  than  that  —  lest  you  should  find  temptations 
to  the  neglect  of  it  growing  out  of  circumstances 
connected  with  your  education.  If  you  have  a 
strong  relish  for  study,  there  is  danger  that  study 
will  become  with  you  the  all  engrossing  concern, 
and  will  leave  you  without  any  thoughts  to  bestow 
upon  God  or  your  soul's  salvation .  There  is  dan- 
ger too  that  in  your  daily  and  accidental  inter- 
course with  thoughtless  companions,  you  will  con- 
tract the  same  habit  of  indifference  to  religion 
which  you  witness  in  them,  and  this  habit  will 
soon  become  fortified  by  the  powerful  influence  of 
example,  and  the  dread  of  being  singular.  Such 
has  been  the  melancholy  result  in  relation  to  many 
a  young  female,  who  has  commenced  her  educa- 
tion not  only  under  the  influence  of  pious  parental 
precepts  and  counsels,  but  with  a  tender  conscience, 
with  a  habit  of  serious  reflection,  and  with  strong 
resolutions  for  entering  on  the  religious  life.  You 
cannot  wonder  then  that  I  am  desirous  to  apprise 
you  of  these  temptations,  and  to  urge  you  to  be  on 


44  LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER. 

your  guard  against  them.  And  that  you  may  re- 
sist them  effectually,  let  me  counsel  you  to  let  a  por- 
tion of  each  day  be  sacredly  devoted  to  meditation 
upon  your  character  and  condition  as  a  sinful  and 
immortal  being,  to  the  attentive  perusal  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  earnest  endeavors  for  the 
sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  a 
word,  let  me  entreat  you  to  become  a  new  crea- 
ture in  Christ  Jesus  —  a  practical  and  decided 
Christian.  This  will  not  only  save  you  from  the 
danger  of  being  fatally  ensnared  by  thoughtless 
associates,  but  it  will  impart  to  your  example  a 
dignity,  and  loveliness,  and  power,  which,  under 
God,  may  render  you  instrumental  of  their  salva- 
tion. It  will  at  once  secure  to  you  the  largest 
amount  of  intellectual  improvement,  and  will  be  a 
pledge  that  all  your  acquisitions  will  be  consecrated 
to  the  best  interests  of  your  fellow  creatures,  and 
to  the  honor  of  your  Creator  and  Redeemer. 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER  IV. 

EDUCATION  —  VARIOUS    BRANCHES. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  Having,  in  a  preceding- 
letter,  called  your  attention,  to  some  general  views 
of  the  subject  of  education,  I  design  in  this,  to 
enumerate  some  of  the  various  branches  which 
will  naturally  be  included  in  your  course,  and  to 
give  you  my  opinion  of  their  comparative  import- 
ance. Whatever  relates  to  the  selection  and  order 
of  your  studies,  I  am  willing  to  leave  in  a  great 
measure  to  your  instructors,  not  doubting  that 
they  will  direct  you  with  good  judgment ;  and  I 
am  willing  too  to  leave  something  to  your  own 
taste  and  inclination  ;  but  as  this  is  a  subject 
which  deeply  involves  the  improvement  of  your 
mind  and  the  formation  of  your  character,  and  in 
which  a  father  must  of  course  feel  a  deep  interest, 
you  will  not  wonder  that  I  am  disposed  to  give  you 
briefly  the  result  of  my  experience  and  reflection. 

You  need  not  be  startled,  when  I  go  back  to  the 
very  elementary  branches  of  an  education,  and 
begin  to  talk  to  you  on  the  simple  matter  of  learn- 


46  LETTERS     TO 

ing  to  read.  That  you  can  read  with,  tolerable 
correctness  and  some  degree  of  fluency  already,  I 
admit ;  but  you  have  at  least  as  much  to  learn,  as 
you  have  learned  already,  before  you  can  be,  in 
any  proper  sense  of  the  phrase,  a  good  reader. 
My  first  advice  is  that  you  should  adopt  in  every 
respect  the  tones  of  nature  —  the  tones  which  you 
are  accustomed  to  use  in  common  conversation. 
Almost  every  child  contracts  at  a  very  early  period 
what  is  commonly  called  a  reading  tone ;  a  mono- 
tonous habit  of  utterance,  which,  while  it  outrages 
taste  and  nature,  is  generally  with  great  difficulty 
broken  up.  If  you  have  already  contracted  this 
tone  in  any  degree,  (and  it  would  be  strange  in- 
deed if  you  had  not,)  make  it  your  first  object  to 
get  rid  of  it.  When  you  sit  down  to  read,  do  not 
think  it  necessary  to  assume  a  more  formal  or 
stately  mental  attitude  than  if  you  were  sitting 
down  to  converse  ;  and  endeavor  to  utter  the  sen- 
timents of  your  author  in  his  language,  in  the 
same  easy  and  familiar  manner  that  you  would 
talk  off  the  same  sentiments  in  your  own.  This 
of  course  implies  that  you  read  intelligently  ;  that 
you  are  able  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  your  author, 
and  readily  and  fully  to  apprehend  his  meaning. 
You  can  never  attain  what  I  wish  in  this  respect 
by  the  study  of  rules  ;  though  these  may  be  of 
some  assistance  to  you  :  you  can  only  do  it  by  un- 


.1     DAUGHTER.  17 

derstandirjg  well  what  you  read,  and  giving  your- 
self up  to  the  simple  dictate  of  nature;  and  by 
often  repeated  exercises  of  this  kind,  you  will  ac- 
quire the  habit  which  I  am  recommending.  Be 
careful  also  that  you  utter  each  sentence,  and 
every  part  of  each  sentence,  with  perfect  distinct- 
ness, and  in  so  loud  a  tone  that  all  that  ypu  say 
shall  not  only  be  heard,  but  heard  without  effort. 
Guard,  on  the  one  hand,  against  fatiguing  the 
attention  of  those  who  listen  to  you,  by  the  exces- 
sive rapidity  of  your  utterance,  and  on  the  other, 
against  furnishing  them  with  an  apology  for  going 
to  sleep  by  your  extreme  deliberation.  In  a  word, 
let  it  be  your  aim  to  read  in  such  a  manner,  as 
most  deeply  to  impress  the  sentiments  of  your  au- 
thor, and  of  course,  most  effectually  to  secure  the 
attention  of  your  hearers. 

Next  to  reading  comes  the  equally  simple  art 
of  spelling.  It  is  true  of  this  as  of  every  other 
elementary  branch,  and  if  I  mistake  not,  in  a 
higher  degree  than  of  any  other,  that  if  it  is  not 
learned  at  a  very  early  period,  it  will  probably 
never  be  learned  at  all ;  and  hence  it  is  not  un- 
common to  find  men,  whose  early  education  was 
neglected,  but  who,  by  their  own  subsequent  exer- 
tions, have  risen  to  the  most  elevated  stations, 
leaving  evidence  through  life  upon  every  thing 
they  write  that  they  do  not  understand  the  art  of 


48  LETTERS     TO 

making  words  out  of  letters.  This  indeed  may  be 
excused  where  there  has  been  the  want  of  early- 
advantages  ;  but  nothing  else  can  render  it  tolera- 
ble. I  beg  you  will  make  it  a  point,  therefore,  as 
early  as  possible,  to  possess  yourself  of  a  correct 
system  of  orthography.  This  is  a  thing  to  be 
learned  partly  by  rule,  but  in  a  much  greater 
degree,  by  practice ;  and  without  much  of  the 
latter,  I  assure  you  that  you  can  never  arrive  at 
much  perfection  in  this  simple  but  necessary  de- 
partment of  knowledge.  Let  me  advise  you  in 
writing  never  to  run  the  hazard  of  committing  an 
orthographical  error,  in  a  case  in  respect  to  which 
you  are  in  doubt.  Always  settle  the  point  on  the 
spot  where  it  is  practicable,  by  a  reference  to  some 
standard  authority.  In  this  way  you  will  acquire 
a  habit  of  correctness,  and  a  particularity  of  infor- 
mation, which  will  soon  make  you  independent 
of  dictionaries  ;  whereas,  by  adopting  the  oppo- 
site course,  you  will  not  only  run  the  hazard  of 
committing  an  error,  in  a  case  in  which  an  error, 
to  say  the  least,  is  hardly  decent,  but  you  will 
acquire  a  habit  of  inattention  to  your  orthography 
which  may  ultimately  make  it  a  task  for  a  literary 
friend  to  read  your  composition. 

As  for  penmanship,  I  cannot  say  that  I  regard 
it  so  important  that  you  should  attain  to  high 
excellence  in  it,   as   in   either   of  the   preceding 


A     DAUGHTER.  49 

branches ;  and  yet  I  am  desirous  that  your  attain- 
ments in  this  department  should,  at  least,  be 
respectable.  I  should  be  glad  to  see  you  write  an 
easy  and  graceful  hand,  and  above  all  I  would 
have  it  possess  the  attribute  of  being  legible.  A 
more  odd  conceit  never  entered  a  human  head 
than  seems  to  have  gotten  possession  of  some  at 
the  present  day  —  that  a  hand  which  puts  one's 
invention  to  the  torture,  is  a  sure  mark  of  genius. 
If  that  be  the  test,  I  will  only  say  that  I  choose  to 
have  you  run  the  hazard  of  being  considered  a 
dunce,  rather  than  torment  me  and  your  other 
friends  with  illegible  communications.  How  much 
truth  there  is  in  the  doctrine  held  by  some  that 
the  handwriting  indicates  the  intellectual  or  moral 
character,  I  will  not  undertake  to  decide  ;  but  I 
earnestly  hope  that  you  will  take  up  no  doctrine 
or  practice  on  this  subject  that  will  prevent  you 
from  being  a  neat,  plain,  and  if  you  please,  elegant 
writer. 

I  hardly  need  say  that  you  can  lay  no  claim  to 
the  character  of  an  accomplished  scholar,  untU 
you  can  speak  and  write  with  correctness  your 
own  language.  And  in  order  for  this,  you  must 
gam  a  thorough  knowledge  of  English  Grammar 
and  Rhetoric.  These  branches  should  be  so 
familiar  to  you,  that  you  will,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  without  even  being  conscious  of  it  at 
4 


'50  LETTERS     TO 

the  time,  judge  every  composition  you  read  or 
hear  by  grammatical  or  rhetorical  rules  ;  that  you 
will  as  instantly  detect  an  error  in  syntax  or  an 
error  in  taste,  as  a  delicate  ear  would  notice  a  con- 
fusion in  musical  sounds.  I  know  indeed  there, 
have  been  those,  who  have  written  with  great 
power  and  even  beauty,  who  have  known  nothing 
of  Rhetoric  or  Grammar,  except  as  they  were 
taught  by  nature ;  whose  minds  would  pour  out 
"  thoughts  that  breathe  in  words  that  burn,"  with 
the  same  apparent  ease  that  a  stream  flows  from 
its  fountain  ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
even  these  pre-eminently  gifted  individuals  would 
have  done  better  with  the  knowledge  of  which  I 
am  speaking  than  they  did  without  it  ;  and  at  any 
rate  they  are  exceptions  from  a  general  rule,  and 
therefore  furnish  no  ground  for  any  general  con- 
clusion. 

It  were  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  a  habit  of 
easy  and  elegant  composition  is  not  to  be  acquired 
in  ordinary  cases  without  much  attention  and  long 
continued  practice.  If  you  should  find,  therefore, 
that  your  first  efforts  are  rather  tame  and  feeble,  it 
will  be  no  reason  why  you  should  be  discouraged  ; 
for  no  doubt  there  are  many  now  on  the  list  of  fine 
writers  whose  first  efforts  were  as  tame  and  feebl? 
as  yours.  Nothing  will  serve  more  effectually  to 
improve  your  taste,  and  to  give  you  an  easy  com- 


A      DAUGHTER.  51 

mand  of  thought  and  expression  than  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  English  classics.  You  will 
also,  especially  in  your  earlier  essays  at  composi- 
tion, find  it  a  useful  exercise,  after  you  lay  aside 
your  book,  to  commit  the  thoughts  of  your  author 
to  paper  in  your  own  language ;  though  I  hardly 
need  say  that  you  are  never  to  attempt  to  pass  off 
any  thing  that  you  produce  in  this  way  as  your 
own,  in  any  higher  sense  than  it  actually  is  so ; 
for  to  say  nothing  of  the  immorality  of  such  an 
act,  which  I  should  hope  would  be  sufficient  to 
deter  you  from  it,  there  is  no  character  in  the 
literary  world  regarded  with  more  odium  than  a 
plagiarist.  Remember,  that  to  form  a  good  writer, 
the  first  requisite  is  good  thoughts  —  the  second,  a 
good  style.  If  you  can  command  thoughts  which 
are  striking  and  original,  it  is  all  the  better,  pro- 
vided they  are  appropriate  ;  but  endeavor  always 
to  be  appropriate  at  any  rate.  A  striking  thought, 
introduced  merely  because  it  is  striking,  and  with 
nothing  in  the  connexion  to  justify  it,  is  a  blemish, 
and  not  an  ornament ;  an  indication  both  of  the 
lack  of  judgment  and  of  taste.  Whenever  you 
have  selected  your  subject,  and  have  possessed 
yourself  of  the  necessary  information  in  respect  to 
it,  revolve  it  thoroughly  in  your  mind,  and  see 
what  appropriately  belongs  to  it;  and  then  select 
such  thoughts  or  trains  of  thought  as  may  seem  to 


52  LETTERS     TO 

you  on  the  whole  most  pertinent  and  useful.  Ar- 
range your  thoughts,  so  far  as  may  be,  before  you 
begin  to  write  ;  and  then  you  will  proceed  with 
far  more  ease,  and  probably  with  far  more  success. 
Let  your  subjects  be  chosen,  so  far  as  possible, 
with  reference  to  the  general  culture  of  your  mind. 
It  is  too  much  the  fashion  of  the  day  for  girls,  in 
writing  their  compositions,  to  imagine  themselves 
surveying  some  beautiful  moonlight  scene,  or  lis- 
tening to  the  sound  of  some  magnificent  cataract, 
or  contemplating  nature  in  some  other  of  her  wild 
or  sweet  or  majestic  forms:  all  this  may  be  well 
enough  for  an  occasional  exercise  of  imagination  ; 
but  in  general  I  advise  you  to  select  subjects  of 
more  practical  interest ;  subjects  which  are  adapted 
to  exercise  the  judgment,  the  reasoning  faculty, 
and  other  powers  of  the  mind,  and  not  merely  to 
awaken  or  improve  the  fancy.  The  secret  of 
forming  a  good  style  is  to  throw  into  it  a  due  pro- 
portion of  gracefulness  and  strength.  There  are 
a  thousand  good  models  which  I  might  recom- 
mend to  you,  but  I  am  not  desirous  that  you  should 
closely  study  any  model  as  such  ;  the  true  mode  is, 
to  be  conversant  with  as  many  good  writers  as  you 
can,  and  to  let  your  mind  operate  in  its  own  way, 
unembarrassed  by  the  peculiarities  of  any.  I  am 
always  delighted  to  read  a  book  on  which  I  can 


A     DAUGHTER.  53 

see    the    very   image    and    superscription    of    the 
author's  own  mind. 

Of  the  various  kinds  of  composition  there  is 
none  perhaps  to  which  young  females  generally 
are  more  inclined,  and  for  which  they  find  more 
occasion,  than  the  epistolary ;  and  I  must  do  your 
sex  the  justice  to  say  that  in  this  respect  they 
greatly  exceed  ours  under  the  same  advantages. 
Without  saying  any  thing  here  of  the  propriety 
of  your  cultivating  a  more  extensive  or  a  more 
limited  correspondence,  I  would  urge  upon  you  the 
importance  of  acquiring  a  good  epistolary  style,  for 
this,  among  other  reasons,  that  it  is  an  accomplish- 
ment which  is  well  fitted  to  make  you  agreeable  to 
your  friends.  And  the  only  particular  direction 
which  I  would  give  you  for  acquiring  it,  sup- 
posing you  to  be  attentive  to  the  general  culture 
of  your  mind,  is,  that  you  should  throw  your 
thoughts  on  paper  with  the  same  ease  with  which 
they  fall  from  your  lips.  When  you  sit  down  to 
write  a  letter,  imagine  that  you  are  sitting  down 
to  talk  to  a  friend  ;  and  if  you  adopt  a  style  of 
elegant  conversation,  you  will  adopt  the  very  best 
style  for  a  correspondence. 

You  will  not  understand  me  as  prescribing  any 
exact  order  for  your  studies,  when  I  mention,  next, 
Arithmetic.  I  hardly  need  say  that  this  is  im- 
portant, not  so  much,  in  the  common  acceptation 


54  LETTERSTO 

of  the  word,  as  an  accomplishment,  as  it  is  for  the 
every  day,  practical  purposes  of  life  ;  so  that  there 
is  hardly  a  condition  in  which  you  can  suppose 
yourself  placed,  but  that  your  ignorance  of  this 
branch  must,  at  some  time  or  other,  subject  you 
not  only  to  sad  mortification  but  sore  inconve- 
nience. Of  the  new  mode  of  calculating,  commonly 
called  mental  Arithmetic,  I  am  unable  to  speak 
from  much  practical  knowledge  ;  but  I  must  con- 
fess that  the  results  of  this  mode  of  teaching  which 
I  have  witnessed,  even  in  small  children,  have 
surprised  me  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  the 
most  easy  and  successful  mode  of  communicating 
this  kind  of  knowledge  which  has  yet  been  dis- 
covered. But  leaving  to  your  instructors  to  decide 
in  respect  to  the  best  manner  of  your  studying 
Arithmetic,  I  must  insist  that  you  make  thorough 
work  of  it ;  insomuch  that  no  calculation  which 
you  will  have  occasion  to  make,  will  ever  embar- 
rass you. 

As  to  the  higher  branches  of  Mathematics,  if 
you  have  even  a  common  relish  for  them,  I  think 
you  may  pursue  them  to  some  extent  with  advan- 
tage. If  you  are  passionately  fond  of  them,  I 
would  say  unhesitatingly,  better  prosecute  them 
so  far  as  inclination  may  dictate  and  opportunity 
admit.  But  if  your  taste  points  you  decidedly  to 
a  different  course  of  study,  and  you  find  nothing 


A     DAUGHTER.  55 

in  this  branch  to  attract  or  interest  you,  why  then 
I  would  consent  that  your  mathematical  studies 
should  be  arrested  at  almost  any  point  you  please, 
after  you  have  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
common  arithmetic.  Algebra  and  Geometry,  how- 
ever, it  were  certainly  desirable,  should  come  into 
your  course  ;  and  if  you  have  intelligently  advan- 
ced thus  far,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  your 
inclination  w;ll  lead  you  still  further.  It  is  scarcely 
possible  that  you  will  ever  be  placed  in  circum- 
stances in  which  these  higher  branches  w  ill  come 
into  direct  use  ;  nevertheless  you  may  advantage- 
ously study  them  simply  as  a  matter  of  intellectual 
discipline.  It  is  an  admirable  way  of  learning  to 
think  on  general  subjects  with  precision,  and  to 
reason  with  clearness  and  force. 

Of  Geography,  I  surely  need  not  say  any  thing 
to  you  in  the  way  of  urging  its  mportance  or 
recommending  it  to  your  attention.  When  studied 
intelligently  and  with  the  proper  helps,  it  possesses 
attractions  to  most  minds  which  are  irresistible. 
And  to  say  nothing  of  the  interest  which  belongs 
to  it  in  itself  considered,  it  is,  as  I  think  Lord 
Chesterfield  remarks,  one  of  the  eyes  of  history. 
You  will  make  yourself  familiar  with  the  earth, 
not  only  as  it  is  known  to  the  moderns,  but  as 
it  was  known  to  the  ancients;  as  a  preparation 
for  the  study  both  of  ancient  and  modern  history. 


56  LETTEKS     TO 

It  were  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  your  ac- 
quisitions in  this  department  of  knowledge,  must 
be  made  principally  from  the  map  or  the  globe  ; 
as  all  impressions  which  you  derive  in  any  other 
way  will  be  comparatively  feeble  and  evanescent. 
The  construction  of  maps  also  you  will  find  a 
pleasant  exercise,  while  it  will  serve  to  render 
your  geographical  knowledge  more  distinct  and 
abiding, 

I  have  adverted  to  History.  This  I  would  have 
you  study  not  merely  with  a  view  to  gratify  curi- 
osity, but  as  containing  an  instructive  record  of 
human  actions,  and  as  furnishing  an  important 
means  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  operations 
of  the  human  heart ;  for  what  the  nature  of  man 
has  been,  so  it  is  now ;  and  its  operations  are  the 
same,  making  due  allowance  for  diversity  of  cir- 
cumstances. In  your  attention  to  this  branch,  I 
would  advise  you  first  to  make  yourself  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  some  judicious  outline  of  History; 
and  so  far  as  possible  to  fill  up  every  part  of  the 
outline  by  your  subsequent  reading.  In  no  branch 
of  study  will  you  need  the  aid  of  system  more 
than  this ;  and  though  you  may  accumulate  ma- 
terials without  end,  yet  if  you  fail  to  reduce  them 
to  order,  so  that  they  shall  be  in  your  mind  as  so 
many  distinct  and  w*ell  arranged  classes  of  facts, 
you  will  be  able  to  use  them  to  little  advantage. 


A     DAUGHTER.  57 

While  I  would  have  you  familiar  with  every  part 
of  History,  both  ancient  and  modern,  I  would  re- 
commend a  special  attention  to  the  history  of  your 
own  country ;  not  only  because  it  is  your  own,  but 
because  it  is  the  land  which  seems  to  be  marching 
forward  in  the  order  of  Providence  to  a  more  glo- 
rious destiny  than  any  other.  Every  thing  seems 
to  indicate  that  this  country  is  to  have  a  most 
important  part  in  the  final  renovation  of  the  world  ; 
and  this  surely  is  a  reason  why  those  who  have 
their  lot  cast  in  it  should  understand  well  its  his- 
tory, that  they  may  contemplate  the  wonderful 
works  of  God  by  which  it  has  already  been  distin- 
guished, and  in  which  no  doubt  will  be  found  the 
elements  of  its  ultimate  destiny. 

Next  to  History,  perhaps,  may  properly  come 
Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy.  These  are  indeed 
distinct  branches,  but  as  they  both  relate  to  the 
essential  constitution  of  man,  they  may  properly 
enough  be  noticed  together.  If  you  will  prosecute 
them  with  success,  you  must  bring  to  your  aid 
much  patient  reflection  ;  for  you  may  rest  assured 
that  any  superficial  attention  to  these  branches 
will  be  to  no  purpose.  Every  principle  laid  down 
in  your  text  book  you  must  test  by  a  reference  to 
your  own  intellectual  or  moral  constitution  ;  and  if 
you  find  a  disagreement  between  the  principle  as 
it  is  stated  by  your  author,  and  as  it  exists  in  your 


55  LETTERS     TO 

own  bosom,  you  have  reason  to  inquire  whether 
your  author  be  not  in  the  wrong  ;  for  the  original 
principles  of  human  nature,  and  the  operation  of 
these  principles,  are  substantially  the  same  in  per- 
sons of  every  class.  The  study  of  these  branches, 
conducted  in  this  way,  you  will  readily  perceive, 
is  only  the  study  of  human  character  and  human 
duty  ;  and  surely  this  cannot  be  unworthy  to  em- 
ploy your  faculties,  whether  as  an  intellectual 
being,  or  as  a  probationer  for  eternity. 

Some  degree  of  attention  you  may  properly  be- 
stow upon  Mechanical  Philosophy  and  Chemistry. 
These,  together  with  kindred  sciences  which  come 
under  the  general  department  of  Natural  History, 
while  they  answer  important  practical  purposes, 
are  admirably  adapted  to  enlarge  our  views  of  the 
wisdom,  and  power,  and  goodness  of  the  Creator. 
If  your  circumstances  should  permit,  and  your 
taste  should  incline  you,  to  bestow  some  attention 
upon  several  of  the  branches  of  natural  science,  I 
should  not  object  to  it;  but  if  you  should  confine 
yourself  to  one  or  two,  Mechanical  Philosophy 
and  Chemistry  would  probably  best  reward  your 
efforts. 

As  to  modern  languages,  I  am  not  particularly 
desirous  that  you  should  aim  at  very  high  attain- 
ments. Of  the  French  I  should  be  glad  to  have 
you   acquire   so   much   knowledge    that   you   can 


A     DAUGHTER.  59 

read  it  with  fluency  and  correctness ;  but  as  for 
Spanish,  Italian,  and  other  modern  languages, 
there  is  so  little  in  them  which  it  were  worth  your 
while  to  read,  that  you  have  my  full  consent  for 
never  opening  a  grammar  of  either.  The  dead 
languages  I  do  not  regard  as  constituting  an 
important  part  of  female  education  ;  and  yet  if 
your  taste  should  incline  you  to  it,  I  confess  I 
should  be  gratified  to  see  you  able  to  converse 
with  the  mighty  dead  of  Grecian  and  Koman  fame, 
and  still  more  to  see  you  able  to  read  the  scrip- 
tures in  the  languages  in  which  they  were  dictated 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  last  I  know  is  a  rare 
acquisition  for  a  young  lady,  but  it  is  one  which, 
in  my  eye  at  least,  always  serves  to  elevate  her 
character. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  list  of  studies  without 
recommending  to  you  a  careful  attention  to  the 
evidences  of  Christianity;  and  I  rejoice  to  find, 
that  in  some  of  our  female  seminaries,  this  is 
already  recognized  as  a  distinct  branch  of  educa- 
tion. Every  part  of  this  subject  is  full  of  interest ; 
but  no  part  of  it  perhaps  grows  upon  the  mind  so 
much  on  reflection,  as  that  which  relates  immedi- 
ately to  the  Word  itself  —  what  is  popularly  termed 
the  internal  evidence.  Nearly  identified  with  the 
study  of  this,  is  the  study  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel ;  and  I  earnestly  hope  the  time  is  not  far 


60 


LETTERS     TO 


distant  when  a  knowledge  of  some  outline  of 
scripture  truth,  or  what  perhaps  is  still  better,  the 
Bible  itself,  will  be  considered  essential  to  a 
complete  female  education. 

You  perceive  I  have  said  nothing  of  merely 
ornamental  branches.  The  reason  is,  not  that  I 
regard  them  as  absolutely  unimportant,  but  only 
comparatively  so.  I  am  willing,  if  your  circum- 
stances admit,  that  you  should  attend  to  Drawing, 
Painting,  or  Music,  or  all  of  them,  provided  only 
you  have  a  natural  taste  for  them,  and  do  not 
suffer  them  to  interfere  with  your  improvement  in 
more  important  branches.  I  say,  if  you  have  a 
taste  for  them ;  for  nothing  seems  to  me  more 
ridiculous  than  for  a  girl  utterly  destitute  of  taste, 
to  spend  months  in  trying  to  learn  the  use  of  the 
pencil,  while  neither  she  nor  her  friends  are  to  reap 
any  other  reward  of  her  labors,  than  is  found  in  the 
awkward  result  of  having  a  few  pictures  to  amuse, 
or  as  the  case  may  be,  to  frighten,  her  younger 
sisters.  If  you  have  a  talent  for  music,  I  am  more 
than  willing  that  you  should  cultivate  it ;  for  it 
will  not  only  supply  you  with  innocent,  and  I  may 
say,  elegant  amusement,  but  it  may  often  banish 
melancholy  from  your  mind,  and  refresh  and 
invigorate  the  spirits  of  your  friends.  But  I 
repeat,  let  every  accomplishment  of  this  kind  be 
suffered    to   hold    only   its  proper  place.     If   you 


A      DAUGHTER.  61 

find  that  your  attention  to  these  or  any  kindred 
branches  is  at  any  time  making  you  indifferent  to 
the  more  solid  parts  of  your  education,  especially 
if  you  find  that  it  serves  to  cherish  in  you  a  spirit 
of  vanity,  and  to  diminish  your  interest  in  the 
realities  of  religion,  you  need  no  better  evidence 
that  it  has  become  excessive  ;  and  that  however 
innocent  these  things  may  be  in  themselves,  there 
is  danger  that  you  will  pervert  them  toyourinjurv 
or  ruin. 

I  am  Your  Devoted  Father 


LETTER   V. 

EDUCATION.  DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  However  much  you  may 
be  distinguished  for  intellectual  cultivation,  or  for 
proficiency  in  the  more  refined  and  ornamental 
branches,  you  can  make  no  claim  to  a  complete 
education,  unless  you  are  well  acquainted  with 
Domestic  Economy.  I  am  aware  that  this  is  a 
subject  which  from  some  cause  or  other,  many 
young  females  regard  with  strong  aversion  ;  and 
there  is  reason  to  fear  that,  in  too  many  instances, 
this  aversion  is  heightened  by  receiving  in  some 
degree  the  parental  sanction  ;  but  you  may  rely 
on  it  there  cannot  be  a  greater  mistake  on  the 
subject  of  female  education,  than  to  suppose  that 
this  branch  of  it  may  with  safety  be  neglected. 
With  regard  to  the  extent  to  which  you  should 
be  informed  on  this  subject,  I  would  say  in  general 
that  you  ought  to  have  so  much  knowledge  of  it, 
as  will  enable  you  to  regulate  with  advantage  the 
concerns  of  a  family.  There  are  indeed  some 
of  the  domestic  arts   which   you   can   hardly   be 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  C3 

expected  to  acquire  ;  and  which,  in  the  ordinary 
walks  of  domestic  life,  may  not  be  important;  but 
whatever  relates  to  the  immediate  superintendence 
and  direction  of  household  concerns,  you  cannot 
neglect  without  exposing  yourself  to  inconve- 
nience which  no  future  exertions  may  be  able 
completely  to  remedy. 

It  is  important  that  you  should  cultivate  a  taste 
for  the  management  of  domestic  concerns  as  early 
as  possible.  As  no  part  of  your  education  is  more 
practical  than  this,  it  were  unsafe  to  neglect  it 
even  for  a  short  period  ;  as  the  consequence  of 
such  neglect  would  probably  be,  that  you  would 
form  other  habits  uncongenial  with  domestic 
employments,  and  which  perhaps  might  give  you 
an  aversion  to  them  which  you  would  never 
overcome.  Do  not  consider  it  a  hardship,  there- 
fore, to  be  placed  in  circumstances  which  favor 
your  attention  to  this  subject,  and  even  demand 
your  active  exertions.  Every  item  of  this  kind 
of  knowledge  which  you  gain,  you  will  be  able, 
hereafter,  to  turn  to  some  practical  account, 
which  will  compensate  many  fold  for  the  labor  of 
attaining  it. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  young  females  in  the 
higher  walks  of  life  to  satisfy  themselves  in  the 
neglect  of  this  branch  of  education,  on  the  ground 
that  their  lot  is  cast  in  circumstances  of  opulence 


64  LETTERS     TO 

and  splendor.  If  this  excuse  could  ever  be  sus- 
tained, you  have  no  right  to  expect  that  your 
condition  m  life  will  allow  you  to  avail  yourself 
of  it :  but  the  truth  is  that  it  cannot  be  admitted 
in  any  case.  For  what  if  Providence  should 
actually  place  }tou  in  circumstances  of  wealth, 
and  what  the  world  calls  independence  ?  Would 
you  not  still  be  as  truly  accountable  to  God  for  all 
your  possessions,  as  though  you  had  been  limited 
to  a  moderate  competence  ?  Nay,  would  not  your 
responsibility  be  increased  just  in  proportion  to 
the  abundance  which  had  been  bestowed  upon 
you  ?  This,  therefore,  instead  of  being  an  argu- 
ment for  the  neglect  of  the  domestic  part  of  your 
education,  is  actually  a  reason  why  you  should 
attend  to  it  with  the  greater  care  ;  for  if  a  pro- 
fusion of  the  bounties  of  heaven  are  entrusted  to 
your  management,  and  you  are  responsible  for  the 
proper  improvement  of  them  all,  is  it  not  pre 
eminently  desirable  that  you  should  possess  that 
knowledge  which  will  enable  you  to  acquit  your- 
self as  a  faithful  steward  ? 

But  if  you  leave  the  idea  of  accountableness 
entirely  out  of  the  question,  there  are  still  other 
reasons  of  great  weight  why  this  part  of  your 
education  should  not  be  neglected.  Without  a 
proper  attention  to  it,  you  can  never  be  qualified 
to  preside  in  the  concerns  of  a  family.     Though 


A     DAUGHTER.  65 

you  should  be  placed  in  a  station  which  might 
enable  you  to  command  all  the  conveniences  and 
assistance  which  opulence  can  furnish,  you  will 
never  feel  at  home  in  your  own  house,  unless  you 
have  yourself  that  practical  knowledge  which  will 
enable  you  to  keep  your  house  in  order.  You 
cannot  realize  half  the  value  of  your  domestic  aid, 
unless  you  are  capable  of  exercising  a  general 
superintendence,  and  giving  proper  directions  ;  and 
without  such  ability,  you  will  be  liable  to  constant 
impositions  from  those  to  whom  you  will  be  obli- 
ged to  confide  interests  which  ought  to  remain 
exclusively  in  your  own  hands.  Manv  a  large 
estate  has  been  squandered,  and  many  a  family 
reduced  to  want,  in  consequence  of  a  deficiency 
in  this  part  of  female  education. 

Let  me  add,  if  Providence  should  ever  place  you 
at  the  head  of  a  family,  and  you  are  obliged  from 
ignorance  of  domestic  economy,  to  entrust  its  con- 
cerns to  another,  you  cannot  maintain  the  dignity 
which  appropriately  belongs  to  such  a  station. 
You  will  be  subject  to  a  thousand  painful  morti- 
fications from  discovering  that  your  concerns  are 
improperly  managed,  and  yet  being  unable  to 
suggest  the  proper  remedy  ;  and  though  you  may 
try  to  flatter  yourself  that  your  ignorance  on  this 
subject  may  pass  for  evidence  of  a  genteel  educa- 
tion, it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  unsavory 
5 


66  LETTERS     TO 

food,  which  will  sometimes  chance  to  be  placed 
before  your  guests,  will  lead  them  to  regret  that 
you  happened  to  possess  so  unfortunate  an  accom- 
plishment. 

What  I  have  said  hitherto  on  this  subject  has 
been  principally  upon  the  supposition  that  you  are 
to  be  placed  in  circumstances  of  external  ease  and 
affluence.  But  I  hardly  need  say  that  this  is  by 
no  means  certain.  Even  if  your  prospects  in  this 
respect  should  be  fair  at  the  commencement  of 
domestic  life,  there  are  a  thousand  changes  which 
may  await  you,  any  one  of  which  may  cast  around 
you  the  gloom  and  desolation  of  heart-breaking 
poverty.  I  could  tell  you  of  many  who  have  begun 
life  without  a  cloud  being  seen  to  settle  upon  their 
temporal  prospects,  and  have  closed  it  in  all  the 
degradation  and  wretchedness  which  the  most  ab- 
ject want  could  occasion.  I  would  fondly  indulge 
the  hope  that  Heaven  may  avert  such  a  lot  as  this 
from  my  dear  child  ;  but  as  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
what  scenes  of  adversity  the  changes  of  life  may 
bring  with  them,  it  is  unquestionably  the  part  of 
wisdom  that  you  should  be  prepared  for  any  lot  to 
which  Providence  may  call  you.  What  then,  if 
you  should  be  destined  in  a  few  years  to  the  ob- 
scure and  humble  walks  of  poverty  ?  What,  if 
from  the  comfortable  competence  you  now  possess, 
you  should  sink  to   a  condition   upon   which  you 


A     DAUGHTER.  67 

have  hitherto  been  scarcely  able  to  look,  without 
feelings  of  compassion  and  tears  of  sympathy  '. 
What,  if  you  should  see  around  you  a  little  de- 
fenceless family,  and  all  the  dreaded  evils  of 
poverty  clustering  upon  them  in  melancholy  pro- 
fusion ?  And  what,  if,  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
circumstances  of  external  depression,  you  should 
be  found  incapable  of  devising  a  plan  or  lifting  a 
hand  for  the  relief  or  comfort  of  yourself  and 
family?  In  supposing  this  case,  believe  me,  I  am 
not  dealing  in  fiction :  I  have  seen  an  elegant, 
accomplished  female,  brought  up  in  the  lap  of 
luxury,  in  these  very  circumstances :  and  who 
knows  but  that  another  such  case  may  occur,  and 
that  it  may  not  be  the  case  of  my  beloved  child  ? 
Sure  I  am  that  another  argument  cannot  be  neces- 
sary to  impress  you  with  the  importance  of  the 
subject  I  am  endeavoring  to  urge. 

And  now  if  I  have  gained  your  con  vie;  ion  to 
the  importance  of  this  branch  of  education,  let  me 
repeat  the  request  that  you  will  begin  without  de- 
lay to  make  it  a  practical  matter.  I  know  indeed 
that  much  depends  in  this  case  on  maternal  atten- 
tion and  effort ;  but  I  know  too  that  there  is  in 
some  young  females  an  aversion  to  domestic  em- 
ployments, which  a  mother's  persevering  exer- 
tions do  not  overcome;  and  I  also  know  that  little 
improvement  can.  reasonably  be  expected  in  any 


6S  LETTER STO 

department  of  knowledge,  in  which  the  mind  does 
not  act  not  only  without  constraint,  but  with 
alacrity.  And  I  beg  you  to  bear  in  mind  that  the 
knowledge  of  which  I  am  speaking  is  to  be 
acquired  only  in  a  single  way ;  and  that  is  by 
actual  experience.  You  may  study  the  science 
of  domestic  economy  as  carefully  as  you  will,  and 
you  may  receive  lessons  from  experienced  and 
skilful  managers,  and  after  all  you  will  be  little 
wiser,  till  you  come  down  to  the  actual  reality  of 
participating  in  the  every  day  concerns  of  a  family. 
When  you  actually  put  your  hand  to  the  work, 
you  will  begin  to  learn  ;  but  unless  you  put  your 
hand  to  it  frequently,  and  learn  to  think  it  no  dis- 
honor to  engage  in  any  thing  appertaining  to  the 
economy  of  a  family,  you  can  never  expect  to  be- 
come an  accomplished  housekeeper.  In  a  pre- 
ceding letter  I  have  urged  upon  you  the  import- 
ance of  taking  a  good  degree  of  exercise  ;  let  me 
here  say  that  you  cannot  comply  with  that  direc- 
tion to  better  purpose  than  by  spending  a  part  of 
every  day  in  domestic  employments.  And  while 
it  will  secure  to  you  the  benefit  of  relaxation  from 
your  studies,  and  of  the  exercise  of  your  bodily 
powers,  it  will  be  an  effectual  —  the  only  effectual 
means  of  preparing  you  to  appear  with  honor  and 
usefulness  in  this  department,  as  the  head  of  a 
family. 


A     DAUGHTER.  69 

In  connexion  with  this  general  subject  I  have  a 
word  to  say  in  respect  to  the  regulation  of  your 
expenses.  In  all  your  dealings  I  would  have  you 
avoid  even  the  appearance  of  being  parsimonious : 
let  no  one  ever  have  just  occasion  to  say,  in  re- 
spect to  any  pecuniary  transaction  of  yours,  that 
it  has  not  been  perfectly  liberal  and  honorable. 
Nevertheless  there  is  an  ostentation  of  liberality 
which  I  would  have  you  carefully  avoid  ;  for  it  is 
really  a  contemptible  quality,  and  so  the  world 
regard  it.  There  is  also  in  some  young  females 
a  spirit  of  extravagance  —  a  disposition  to  incur 
expenses  which  their  condition  in  life  neither  de- 
mands nor  justifies  ;  —  another  quality  which  de- 
serves severe  reprobation.  I  trust  I  shall  never  be 
subjected  to  the  mortification  of  seeing  exemplified 
in  you  either  of  these  dispositions.  Let  your  ex- 
penditures be  regulated,  not  merely  by  a  regard  to 
your  ability,  but  to  your  accountableness  as  a 
steward  of  the  divine  bounty.  Regard  economy 
as  a  virtue,  and  never  be  unwilling  to  be  seen  in 
the  practice  of  it.  It  is  a  shame  to  any  steward 
to  waste  his  Lord's  goods.  It  is  honorable  to  con- 
tract your  personal  expenses  as  far  as  you  may, 
that  you  may  thereby  have  the  more  ability  to 
succor  the  needy  and  distressed. 

I  will  close  this  letter  by  suggesting  a  hint  or 
two  on  the  subject  of  dress  :  as  it  is  in  relation  to 


70  LETTERS     TO 

this,  more  perhaps  than  anything  else,  that  most 
young  females  are  tempted  to  indulge  in  extrava- 
gance. I  would  always  have  you  appear  in  this 
respect  neat  and  decent,  and  do  not  care  how  much 
correct  taste  you  display  ;  but  I  beg  you  to  avoid 
all  gaudy  and  superfluous  ornament.  It  is  a  good 
rule  to  follow  the  fashion  in  dress  just  so  far  that 
you  shall  not  be  marked  as  singular.  But  you 
may  rely  on  it,  that  a  disposition  to  take  the  lead 
in  fashions,  to  shine  forth  in  splendid  apparel,  and 
even  to  profane  the  house  of  God  by  a  gaudy 
glare  of  lace  and  gold,  is  always  taken  with  dis- 
cerning people  as  proof  of  a  weak  head  or  a  proud 
heart.  In  the  circle  of  my  acquaintance  there  is 
a  family  of  young  ladies  who  have  a  fortune 
which  few  females  in  this  country  have  ever 
inherited.  They  have  been  educated  in  a  style 
of  princely  liberality;  and  I  may  say,  with  the 
voice  of  all  their  acquaintances  to  sustain  me, 
that  they  are  the  ornament  of  their  sex.  These 
young  ladies  have  their  hearts  and  hands  open  to 
every  object  of  charity  within  their  reach  ;  but  in 
their  dress  there  are  scarcely  any  females  in  the 
surrounding  population  who  are  equally  simple 
and  unpretending.  And  who,  think  you,  regards 
them  the  less  for  this  trait  in  their  character  ?  Be- 
lieve me,  every  one  regards  them  the  more.  There 
is  in  it  a  charming  simplicity  —  a  right  estimate 


A     DAUGHTER 


71 


of   things,    which    attracts   universal    admiration. 
I   would   say   to    every   young   female,    I    would 
especially  say  to  you,  "  Go  and  do  likewise." 
Your  Devoted  Father. 


LETTER  VI. 


GENERAL    READING. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  In  the  course  of  your  edu- 
cation, and  after  it  is  completed,  you  will  occa- 
sionally find  leisure  to  devote  to  miscellaneous 
reading.  As  this  is  one  of  the  principal  means 
by  which  you  will  become  acquainted  with  the 
sentiments  of  others,  you  will  readily  perceive 
that  it  cannot  but  exert,  either  for  good  or  evil,  an 
important  influence  on  your  character.  It  is  the 
design  of  this  letter  to  furnish  you  some  hints 
which  may  assist  you  to  regulate  this  employment, 
so  that  it  shall  be  at  once  the  most  useful  and  the 
most  agreeable. 

And  the  first  suggestion  which  I  would  offer  on 
this  subject  is,  that  all  your  reading  should  be,  as 
far  as  possible,  with  some  definite  object,  other 
than  merely  to  occupy  your  time.  If  you  have 
no  object  in  view,  you  may  be  sure  that  you  will 
accomplish  none;  and  thus  your  reading  will  be 
at  best  a  mere  waste  of  time,  and  not  improbably, 
will  be  fraught  with  positive  intellectual  or  moral 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  73 

evil.  When  you  take  up  a  book,  decide  if  you 
can,  from  its  title,  or  its  table  of  contents,  what 
good  purpose  you  can  accomplish  by  reading  it ; 
what  faculties  of  your  mind  it  will  be  likely  to 
improve  ;  or  what  moral  dispositions  to  refine  oT 
elevate ;  and  having  settled  this  point,  if  the  book 
be  worthy  of  your  attention,  you  can  hardly  fail 
to  be  benefitted  by  reading  it. 

Another  remark,  closely  connected  with  the 
preceding,  is,  that  you  should  never  allow  your- 
self to  read  without  reflection.  There  is  no  habit 
more  easily  acquired  than  that  of  occupying  the 
eye  merely  upon  an  author,  and  leaving  the  mind 
to  its  own  wanderings  ;  and  there  is  scarcely  any 
habit,  which  in  the  end,  more  completely  unstrings 
the  intellect,  and  renders  it  incapable  of  com- 
manding its  own  powers.  The  legitimate  design 
of  reading  is,  not  to  supersede,  but  to  assist  reflec- 
tion ;  not  to  put  the  faculties  to  sleep,  but  to 
brighten  them  by  active  exercise.  Different  books, 
it  is  acknowledged,  require  different  degrees  of 
mental  exertion  ;  but  you  may  take  it  for  granted, 
that  a  book  which  is  not  worth  the  labor  of  some 
thought,  is  not  worth  the  labor  of  reading.  What- 
ever book  you  may  have  in  hand,  let  your  mind 
be  just  as  intensely  employed  as  is  necessary  to 
enable  you  to  realize  the  full  advantage  of  reading 
it ;  that  is,  to  enable  you  to  comprehend  its  full 


74  LETTERS     TO 

meaning,  and  to  give  it,  so  far  as  may  be  desirable 
or  practicable,  a  lodgment  in  your  memory.  If 
you  find  your  thoughts,  at  any  time,  wandering 
obstinately  from  your  author,  and  if  no  effort  will 
bring  them  under  your  control,  so  that  you  can 
read  to  advantage,  (and  such  cases  will  sometimes 
occur  from  mere  physical  derangement,)  better  lay 
aside  your  book  than  to  continue  reading  in  this 
attitude  of  mental  vacancy.  You  will  be  none 
the  wiser  for  what  you  read,  and  you  may  be 
forming  an  intellectual  habit  which  will  diminish 
your  power  of  acquiring  wisdom  in  more  favored 
circumstances. 

It  follows,  from  the  remark  just  made,  that  you 
should  be  on  your  guard  against  reading  too  much. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  diseased  intellectual  ap- 
petite, which  craves  an  excess  of  food,  and  is  only 
satisfied  with  devouring  every  thing  that  comes  in 
its  way.  But  to  indulge  such  an  appetite  were 
just  as  preposterous  as  to  think  of  nourishing  the 
body  by  taking  a  quantity  of  food,  which  should 
altogether  exceed  the  digestive  powers  of  the  sys- 
tem. If  you  would  read  to  advantage,  you  must 
incorporate  what  you  read  with  your  own  thoughts, 
and  gather  from  it  materials  for  future  reflection. 
But  this  you  can  never  do,  if  your  whole  time  is 
occupied  in  reading,  or  if  you  take  up  one  volume 
after  another  in  such  rapid  succession  that  your 


A     DAUGHTER,  75 

mind  can  retain  no  distinct  impression  of  the  con- 
tents of  any  of  them.  Some  of  the  minds  which 
have  shone  most  brilliantly,  have  been  but  little 
occupied  with  books,  being  far  more  conversant 
with  their  own  thoughts  than  the  thoughts  of 
others.  Remember  that  a  few  books  carefully 
read,  and  thoroughly  digested,  and  used  as  helps 
to  intellectual  exertion,  will  be  of  far  more  use  to 
you  than  scores  of  volumes  which  are  gone  through 
with  little  thought,  and  the  contents  of  which, 
either  instantly  pass  out  of  the  mind,  or  remain  in 
it,  an  indigested  mass  of  materials. 

But  while  you  should  avoid  reading  too  much, 
it  is  desirable,  that  of  the  books  which  you  do 
read,  you  should  form  a  habit  of  selecting,  and 
treasuring  up  those  parts  which  are  most  import- 
ant. You  cannot  expect  to  retain  the  whole  of 
any  book  ;  and  if  you  should  attempt  it,  you  would 
probably  lose  the  whole  by  tasking  your  memorv 
so  severely ;  but  even  if  it  were  possible,  it  would 
ordinarily  be  to  no  good  purpose  ;  as  there  is  much 
in  almost  every  book,  which  might  be  in  your 
mind  without  at  all  increasing  your  stock  of  useful 
knowledge.  That  you  may  possess  yourself  of 
the  substance  of  what  you  read,  make  it  a  point  to 
review  your  author  before  you  lay  him  aside,  and 
form  an.  analysis,  at  least  in  your  own  mind,  of  all 
that  vou  havo  been  reading.     It  will  be  well  too, 


76  LETTERS     TO 

if  you  commit  to  paper  a  general  outline  of  every 
important  book  you  read;  or  at  least,  that  you 
make  references  on  a  blank  page,  to  those  parts  to 
which  you  may  afterwards  wish  to  recur.  Some 
such  expedient  as  this  will  be  of  great  use  in 
assisting  your  recollection;  and  will  help  you  to 
retain  stores  of  knowledge  which  would  otherwise 
be  inevitably  lost  from  your  memory. 

You  will,  moreover,  find  great  advantage  in 
having  the  different  departments  of  literature  and 
science,  with  which  you  are  conversant,  so  far 
systematized  in  your  mind,  that  you  will  be  able 
to  refer  every  book  that  you  read  to  some  one  of 
them.  In  this  way,  your  mind  will  become  an 
intellectual  storehouse,  accommodated  to  the  re- 
ception of  every  kind  of  useful  materials  ;  and  its 
various  apartments  arranged  with  so  much  skill 
and  order,  that  you  will  never  be  at  a  loss  where 
to  deposit  any  new  article  of  knowledge,  or  where 
to  find  any  you  had  previously  deposited.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  you  read  without  any  regard  to  order, 
as  it  respects  your  previous  acquisitions,  the  im- 
pressions which  are  made  upon  your  mind  will  be 
vague  and  indistinct ;  and  after  a  little  while  the 
severest  effort  will  be  ineffectual  to  recall  them. 

Having  thrown  out  these  few  hints  in  respect  to 
the  manner  of  your  reading,  suffer  me  now  to  add 


A     DAUGHTER.  77 

some  brief  suggestions  in  respect  to  the  selection 
of  books. 

And  first  of  all,  let  me  say  to  you,  never  allow 
yourself,  from  any  consideration,  to  read  books 
of  immoral  tendency.  A  bad  book,  like  a  bad 
friend,  may  exert  an  influence  which  an  estab- 
lished habit  of  virtue  will  scarcely  be  able  to 
resist ;  and  where  a  corrupt  association  is  once 
formed  in  the  mind,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to 
destroy  it ;  it  remains  there,  a  leprous  spot,  usu- 
ally bidding  defiance  to  every  thing  but  the  power 
of  divine  grace.  What  though  a  book  of  this 
character  may  fall  into  your  hands,  which  is  ren- 
dered peculiarly  attractive  by  a  refined  and  fasci- 
nating style  ?  You  are  to  bear  in  mind,  that  these 
literary  embellishments  can  no  more  disarm  false 
principles  of  their  fatal  tendency,  than  poison  can 
loose  its  virulence  by  being  mingled  with  honey. 
Nay,  these  very  attractions  give  to  bad  books 
much  of  their  dangerous  influence  ;  for  while  they 
recommend  them  to  the  attention  of  the  incautious 
and  inexperienced,  they  too  often  serve  as  a  chan- 
nel through  which  the  most  deadly  impressions 
are  conveyed  to  the  mind.  And  if  the  reading  of 
such  books  were  the  only  way  in  which  you  could 
gain  the  refinement  of  literature,  then  I  would  say, 
better  remain   in   ignorance   forever   than  hazard 


7S  LETTER  STO 

the  wreck  of  your  moral  principles,-  or  admit  into 
)Tour  heart  the  elements  of  destruction. 

But  while  you  carefully  avoid  all  works,  which 
are  fitted,  in  any  degree,  to  corrupt  the  principles 
or  sully  the  purity  of  the  mind,  I  would  have  you 
select  those,  which,  on  the  whole,  are  best  adapted 
to  increase  your  stock  of  useful  knowledge  and 
practical  wisdom.  In  the  wide  range  of  elegant 
literature,  ihere  is  a  great  variety  of  authors, 
which  will  at  once  enlighten  your  understanding, 
improve  your  taste,  and  exert  an  influence  upon 
your  heart  favorable  to  virtue  and  piety.  The 
entire  works  of  Mrs.  More,  the  pride  and  glory  of 
your  sex,  you  cannot  read  too  often  or  too  atten- 
tively. Tney  contain  a  system  of  moral  instruc- 
tion, particularly  adapted  to  young  females,  which 
has  perhaps  never  had  a  parallel  in  any  age  or 
country. 

It  is  an  error,  against  which  you  should  be  on 
your  guard  in  the  selection  of  your  reading,  to 
confine  yourself  exclusively  to  books  of  a  particu- 
lar kind.  The  effect  of  this  would  be  to  corrupt 
your  taste,  to  destroy  the  proportion  which  exists 
among  the  various  powers  of  your  mind,  and,  as 
the  case  may  be,  to  expose  you  to  serious  incon- 
venience and  mortification.  That  you  may  avoid 
this  evil,  endeavor  to  be  conversant  with  those 
authors  who  have  been  most  conspicuous  in  the 


DAUGHTER. 


79 


various  departments  of  literature.  Such  a  course 
will  be  likely  to  give  you  a  correct  and  dignified 
taste,  at  the  same  time  that  it  will  impart  a  gene- 
ral consistency  and  vigor  to  your  intellectual  cha- 
racter. 

Though  I  have  no  wish  that  you  should  be  an 
enthusiast  with  regard  to  poetry,  I  would  still  have 
you,  in  some  degree,  familiar  with  the  best  poets 
both  of  ancient  and  modern  date.  The  immortal 
works  of  Milton,  Cowper,  and  Thompson,  may  be 
read  with  great  advantage  to  the  heart  as  well  as 
the  understanding.  But  there  are  others,  usually 
associated  in  the  same  cluster  of  poetical  genius, 
who,  however  exquisite  their  poetry,  cannot  be 
safely  recommended  as  guides  to  youthful  virtue. 
Much  of  the  modern  poetry,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is 
chargeable  with  the  same  immoral  tendency.  By- 
ron, with  a  genius  to  which  few,  whether  of  an- 
cient or  modern  days,  can  lay  claim  has  clouded 
his  brilliant  and  beautiful  conceptions  with  the 
dark  hue  of  infidelity  and  moral  death;  and  so 
long  as  his  writings  last,  they  must  stand  as  a 
monument  of  a  noble  intellect  prostituted  to  the 
worst  of  all  purposes  —  that  of  corrupting  and  de- 
stroying his  fellow  men.  Moore,  with  less  of  ge- 
nius than  Byron,  has  written  for  the  most  part,  for 
no  better  purpose  ;  and  it  were  far  worse  than  a 
waste  of  time  to  employ  yourself  upon  his  produc- 


80  LETTERS     TO 

tions.  Even  tne  poetry  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  though 
it  has  much  in  it  to  delight  the  imagination,  is 
greatly  deficient  in  moral  sentiment,  and  seems 
scarcely  fitted  for  any  higher  purpose  than  to  fur- 
nish a  light  kind  of  amusement.  James  Montgo- 
mery belongs  to  an  entirely  different  class ;  or 
rather  he  stands  nearly  alone ;  and  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  assigning  to  him  a  pre-eminence  among 
the  poets  of  the  present  day.  With  an  invention 
uncommonly  fertile  in  whatever  is  chaste  and 
beautiful,  he  unites  a  deep  and  strong  religious 
sensibility ;  and  in  reading  his  poetry,  you  see  not 
less  of  the  Christian  than  of  the  poet  :  you  feel 
that  your  imagination,  and  all  your  powers,  are 
in  communion  with  an  exalted  genius,  while  you 
seem  to  breathe  a  pure  and  moral  atmosphere,  and 
to  have  your  soul  attracted  towards  a  region  of 
perfect  purity.  I  might  mention  also  the  lamented 
Pollok,  who  lived  long  enough  to  show  that  God 
had  given  him  noble  powers,  and  that  he  was  dis- 
posed to  employ  them  in  his  master's  service ; 
who  wrote  but  little,  but  in  that  little  has  erected 
for  himself  a  bright  and  enduring  monument.  So 
too  I  might  speak  of  Mrs.  Hemans,  whose  poetry 
is  the  subject  of  much  and  deserved  praise  ;  and 
of  many  others,  of  various  degrees  of  merit,  all  of 
whom  are  unexceptionable  in  their  moral  tendency. 
But  it  is  unnecessary  that  I  should  enlarge  on  this 


A     DAUGHTER.  81 

subject,  as  I  have  no  doubt  that,  with  the  hints 
already  given,  I  may  safely  leave  it  to  your  own 
taste  and  judgment. 

As  for  dramatic  writers,  I  cannot  say  that  I  am 
desirous  that  you  should  cultivate  a  taste  for  them. 
The  plays  of  Shakespeare  are  incomparably  the 
finest  specimen  of  dramatic  genius  which  the 
English  language  preserves ;  and  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  they  exhibit  human  life  and  manners 
with  great  power,  and  beauty,  and  effect ;  but  it  is 
equally  unquestionable  that  there  is  much  in  them 
to  call  into  exercise  the  worst  passions  of  human 
nature,  to  tarnish  the  purity  of  the  mind,  and  to 
beget  a  kind  of  profane  familiarity  with  things  of 
high  and  sacred  import.  I  should  expect,  there- 
fore, that  the  loss  you  would  sustain  from  reading 
them,  in  point  of  moral  feeling,  would  be  greater 
than  any  advantage  you  would  gain  in  respect  to 
intellectual  improvement.  And  on  no  account 
could  I  consent  to  your  reading  them,  unless  it 
were  under  the  direction  of  some  judicious  friend, 
who  would  select  for  you  the  parts  which  are 
most  unexceptionable.  Addison,  Young,  and  a 
few  others  have  written  plays,  which  may  per- 
haps be  considered  unexceptionable  ;  but  I  must, 
confess,  I  should  feel  no  regret,  if  you  should 
think  it  best  to  dispense  with  this  class  of  authors 
altogether. 


82  LETTERSTO 

But  there  is  no  species  of  reading  to  which 
young  females  are  usually  more  inclined,  or  from 
which  they  are  so  much  in  danger,  as  that  of 
novels.  I  will  not  say  that  there  are  no  works  of 
this  kind  which  indicate  a  tone  of  correct  moral 
feeling,  and  which  are  of  unexceptionable  moral 
tendency.  Nor  will  I  take  it  upon  me  to  pass 
severe  judgment  upon  many  persons  of  great  ex- 
cellence, who  have  indulged  in  this  kind  of  read- 
ing, on  the  ground  that  it  furnishes  many  import- 
ant lessons  in  respect  to  the  operations  of  the 
human  heart.  But  I  must  say,  after  an  attentive 
consideration  of  this  subject,  and  withal,  after 
having  once  held  a  somewhat  different  opinion, 
that  I  do  not  wish  you  ever  to  read  a  novel.  For 
admit  that  the  novels  of  Richardson,  and  some  of 
the  modern  novels  of  Scott,  and  a  few  others, 
abound  with  critical  views  of  human  nature,  and 
contain  many  specimens  of  eloquent  writing  ;  and 
in  their  direct  moral  influence  may  be  regarded  as 
harmless  —  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  time  which 
you  would  occupy  in  reading  them  might  be  em- 
ployed to  better  purpose  in  studying  the  actual 
realities  of  life,  as  they  are  exhibited  by  the  bio- 
grapher or  the  historian :  and  moreover,  there  is 
danger,  if  you  begin  to  read  works  of  fiction,  with 
an  intention  to  read  but  few,  and  to  confine  your- 
self to  the  better  class,  that  your  relish  for  these 


A     DAUGHTER  83 

productions  will  increase,  till  you  can  scarcely 
feel  at  home  unless  the  pages  of  a  novel  are 
spread  out  before  you ;  and  what  is  still  more  to 
be  dreaded,  that  you  will  read  indiscriminately, 
the  most  corrupt  as  well  as  the  least  exceptionable. 
You  may  rest  assured  that  a  character,  formed 
under  the  influence  of  novel  reading,  is  miserably 
fitted  for  any  of  the  purposes  of  practical  life. 
The  imagination  being  hereby  wrought  into  a 
feverish  state,  gains  the  ascendency  over  the 
judgment,  and  a  thousand  bright  visions  rise  up 
before  the  mind,  which  experience  proves  to  be 
unreal.  This  species  of  reading,  moreover,  inspires 
a  disgust  for  the  sober  and  practical  realities  in 
which  we  have  to  mingle  ;  and  what  is  worse  than 
all,  it  often  closes  every  avenue  through  which  the 
awful  truths  of  religion  can  be  conveyed  to  the 
heart.  I  say  then,  as  you  would  avoid  forming  a 
character  which  combines  all  the  elements  of  insi- 
pidity, corruption,  and  moral  death,  beware  of 
the  reading  of  novels.  Many  a  young  female  has 
been  obliged  to  trace  to  this  cause,  the  destruction 
of  her  principles,  her  character,  and  ultimately  her 
life  :  and  if  she  have  escaped  these  greater  evils, 
she  is  still  unfitted  for  solid  intellectual  enjoyment, 
and  for  a  life  of  active  usefulness. 

I  would  have  you  bestow  considerable  attention 
on  the  periodical  publications  of  the  day,  though 


84  LETTERS     TO 

you  ought  here,  as  much  as  in  any  department  of 
literature,  to  read  with  discrimination.  Of  these 
publications  you  need  not  to  be  told  that  there  is 
every  variety,  from  the  dignified  quarterly,  that 
exercises  an  almost  unlimited  sway  in  the  region 
of  taste  and  letters,  down  to  the  contemptible 
catchpenny  paper,  that  lives  by  circulating  slander 
and  falsehood.  It  would  be  well,  if  your  circum- 
stances should  permit,  that  you  should  accustom 
yourself  regularly  to  read  one  of  the  great  foreign 
Reviews ;  and  of  those  in  our  own  country,  which 
are  purely  or  chiefly  literary,  you  may  advanta- 
geously select  one  or  two  more.  But  in  reading 
these  publications,  even  the  best  of  them,  you 
ought  not  tamely  to  surrender  your  own  judgment 
of  an  author  to  the  dictation  of  these  literary  cen- 
sors ;  but  to  let  their  opinion  pass  for  only  what  it 
is  worth  ;  and  if  it  have  been  formed  under  the 
influence  of  partiality,  or  prejudice,  to  let  it  pass 
for  nothing.  Of  religious  periodicals  it  may  be 
well  for  you  to  select  one  from  each  of  the  most 
important  classes ;  as,  for  instance,  one  that  is 
devoted  to  theological  review  and  discussion,  one 
to  missionary  intelligence,  &c,  &c.  By  selecting 
your  reading  of  this  kind  with  care,  and  keeping 
yourself  within  certain  limits,  you  will  gain  far 
more  information,  and  with  much  less  labor,  than 


•        A     DAUGHTER.  85 

if  you  were  to  devour,  indiscriminately,  every  pe- 
riodical that  should  fall  in  your  way. 

You  will  find  it  a  useful  employment  occasion- 
ally to  read  judicious  books  of  travels.  It  hap- 
pens, unfortunately,  that  most  works  of  this  kind 
seem  to  have  been  written  with  too  little  regard  to 
truth ;  and  instead  of  having  the  sober  results  of 
actual  experience,  we  have  had  the  wild,  and 
wonderful,  and  sometimes  ridiculous  sallies  of  the 
writer's  imagination.  There  is  probably  no  spe- 
cies of  writing,  in  respect  to  which  you  ought  to 
make  more  abatement  from  glaring  and  marvel- 
lous statements,  than  this ;  not  only  because 
authors  of  this  kind,  from  their  rapid  obser- 
vations, are  often  liable  to  mistake,  but  because 
certainty  has  such  an  advantage  over  conjecture, 
that  they  are  under  a  strong  temptation  not  only 
to  speak,  but  to  speak  positively,  where  it  would 
be  honest  for  them  to  confess  that  they  know 
nothing.  We  are  perfectly  aware  how  much  the 
character  of  our  own  country  has  been  traduced, 
and  held  up  to  ridicule,  by  travellers  from  abroad  ; 
and  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that  much  that  professes 
to  be  the  record  of  travels  in  other  countries,  is 
equally  at  war  with  truth  and  justice.  Some  of 
the  best  books  of  foreign  travels  have  been  written 
by  missionaries,  from  this  country  and  England ; 
and  I  doubt  not  that  it  is  from  this  source  that  we 


86  LETTERS     TO 

are  hereafter  to  gain  our  most  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  population,  the  manners,  and  general  statis- 
tics, of  other  countries . 

Biography  is  a  species  of  reading  which  is  fitted 
to  amuse,  while  it  instructs  you.  It  brings  out 
before  you  the  human  character,  and  often  in  cir- 
cumstances of  the  deepest  interest ;  and  holds  up 
a  mirror  in  which  you  may  see  the  operations  of 
your  own  heart.  I  regret  to  say  that  well  executed 
and  attractive  works  of  this  kind,  are  far  less  com- 
mon in  the  English  language  than  could  be  desired. 
Among  the  most  interesting  within  my  knowledge 
are  the  Biographies  of  Philip  and  Matthew  Henry, 
the  latter  of  which  was  written,  and  the  former 
revised,  by  my  excellent  and  highly  valued  friend, 
Doctor  Williams  of  Shrewsbury.  Within  a  few 
years  many  highly  interesting  works  have  been 
published,  commemorating  the  character  and  ser- 
vices of  distinguished  missionaries,  and  those  who 
have  been  especially  active  in  the  missionary 
cause  ;  such  as  Martin,  Richmond,  Burder,  Row- 
land Hill,  &c,  &c.  I  would  advise  you,  especially, 
to  become  familiar  with  the  characters  who  have 
been  most  conspicuous  in  our  own  country,  and 
who  have  been  instrumental  of  transmitting  to  us 
our  goodly  inheritance.  You  may  also  study  with 
great  advantage  the  lives  of  many  distinguished 
females  of  modern  times,  such  as  Mrs.  Graham, 


A      DAUGHTER.  87 

Mrs.  Huntington,  Mrs.  Newell,  and  others  who 
have  gone  to  heaven,  leaving  a  bright  track  of 
glory  behind  them.  Whenever  you  engage  in 
this  kind  of  reading,  endeavor  to  turn  it  to  some 
account  in  the  improvement  of  your  heart.  What- 
ever excellence  you  discover  in  the  character  you 
are  contemplating,  endeavor  to  make  it  your  own  ; 
whatever  error,  fortify  yourself  against  it  with 
renewed  vigilance  ;  whatever  weakness,  see  whe- 
ther it  be  not  the  besetting  infirmity  of  your  own 
nature  ;  whatever  victory  over  temptation,  whatever 
serenity  amidst  sorrow,  whatever  triumph  in  death, 
let  it  lift  your  eye  and  your  heart  upward,  for  that 
Almighty  grace  by  which  those  blessings  are 
secured.  The  reading  of  Biography  in  this  way 
I  must  most  cordially  recommend,  as  it  cannot  fail 
to  make  you  wiser  and  better. 

You  will  anticipate  me  when  I  say  that  I  wish 
you  to  be  conversant  with  the  best  works  on  Theo- 
logy. In  many  of  the  old  writers  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  which  are  now  little  read,  at  least 
by  females,  you  will  find  treasures  of  thought  and 
devotion,  which  would  amply  reward  you  for  the 
labor  of  examining  them.  Owen,  Baxter,  Flavel, 
Charnock,  Bates,  and  Howe,  though  they  possess 
indeed  different  degrees  of  merit,  yet  are  all  rich 
in  evangelical  sentiment,  and  some  of  them  dis- 
tinguished  by   a    bold   and   powerful    eloquence. 


8S  LETTERS     TO 

The  entire  works  of  any  of  these  authors  are  volu- 
minous, and  perhaps  not  easily  accessible ;  but 
some  of  the  most  popular  and  useful  treatises  of 
each  of  them,  and  of  many  others  of  the  same 
school,  are  within  your  reach,  and  may  be  read 
without  occupying  an  undue  portion  of  your  time. 
If  I  should  mention  any  one  as  deserving  a  pre- 
ference above  the  rest,  I  think  it  would  be  Howe. 
There  is  running  through  his  writings  a  majesty 
of  conception,  and  a  deep  current  of  devotional 
feeling,  which  I  look  for  in  vain,  in  the  same 
degree,  in  almost  any  other  writer. 

I  wish  you  to  read  attentively  at  least  one 
system  of  Theology.  Mere  miscellaneous  reading 
on  theological  subjects,  however  useful  it  may  be, 
can  never  give  you  a  distinct  and  connected  view 
of  the  great  system  of  revealed  truth.  There  is 
no  work  within  my  knowledge,  so  well  adapted 
to  answer  this  purpose,  as  the  admirable  system 
of  Theology  by  the  late  President  Dwight.  It 
may  look  a  little  formidable  to  you  at  first,  but  I 
am  almost  sure  that  if  you  once  engage  in  reading 
it,  you  will  not  be  impatient  to  find  its  close. 
While  the  subjects  are  arranged  with  philosophi- 
cal accuracy,  they  are  discussed  with  a  degree  of 
perspicuity,  force,  and  eloquence,  for  which  J 
think  you  will  look  in  vain,  in  any  similar  work. 
There  are  other  books  containing  systems  of  Theo- 


A     DAUGHTER.  89 

logy  which  you  might  read  with  advantage,  but 
instead  of  recommending  any  of  them  to  your 
particular  attention  I  would  advise  you,  when 
you  have  gone  through  with  Doctor  Dwight  once, 
to  begin,  and  go  through  with  him  again.  This 
course  I  would  recommend,  not  from  a  desire  to 
disparage  other  authors,  but  from  a  conviction 
that  to  read  and  digest  this  as  you  ought,  would 
be  of  more  use  to  you  than  to  read  several  similar 
works  superficially ;  and  withal,  that  you  could 
expect  to  find  little  in  other  bodies  of  divinity,  that 
would  be  of  much  importance,  which  this  does 
not  contain. 

You  will  also  occasionally  employ  yourself  in 
reading  sermons.  As  your  first  object  here  should 
be  the  improvement  of  your  heart,  you  should 
select  those  which  are  distinguished  by  an  earnest 
and  practical  exhibition  of  divine  truth.  But 
it  is  perfectly  consistent  that  you  should  combine, 
with  the  culture  of  your  affections,  the  improve- 
ment of  your  mind ;  and  for  this  purpose  you 
should  choose  those  which  are  composed  with  the 
best  taste,  and  with  the  greatest  degree  of  intellec- 
tual vigor.  The  sermons  of  Barrow  and  Jeremy 
Taylor,  though  they  partake  much  of  the  spirit  of 
the  age  in  which  they  were  written,  are  specimens 
of  a  vigorous  and  powerful  eloquence,  to  which 
modern    times  have    hardly  furnished  a   parallel. 


90  LETTERS     TO 

The  sermons  of  Archbishop .  Tillotson  are  fertile 
in  weighty  and  impressive  sentiment,  and  on  sub- 
jects connected  with  natural  religion,  are  exceeded 
by  few  in  the  language.  Bishop  Sherlock's  ser- 
mons, though  in  some  minor  points,  not  exactly 
accordant  with  my  own  views  of  religious  truth, 
are  certainly  a  monument  of  an  elegant  and  active 
mind,  which  posterity  can  never  cease  to  admire. 
The  sermons  of  the  immortal  Edwards,  though 
wholly  destitute  of  ornament,  are  in  the  highest 
degree  instructive,  and  contain  perhaps,  the  most 
powerful  appeals  to  the  heart  and  conscience, 
which  are  to  be  found  out  of  the  Bible.  President 
Davies'  sermons  have  justly  acquired  a  high  cele- 
brity for  a  dignified,  forcible,  and  solemn  exhibition 
of  divine  truth,  and  for  a  devotional  fervor  and 
sacred  unction,  which  indicate  that  they  were 
dictated  by  a  heart  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  sermons  of  Robert  Walker,  a  modern 
Scotch  divine,  are  fine  specimens  of  an  evangelical 
spirit,  and  admirably  adapted  to  promote  the  influ- 
ence of  practical  religion.  Jay's  sermons  are  full 
of  truth,  and  life,  and  beauty,  and  are  fitted  to  be 
alike  gratifying  to  a  refined  taste,  and  an  elevated 
piety.  The  sermons  of  the  late  Doctor  Lathrop 
are  written  with  great  simplicity,  and  discover  a 
fertility  of  invention,  a  grasp  of  intellect,  an 
enlightened   view  of  scripture    doctrine,    and    an 


A     DAUGHTER.  91 

elevation  of  pious  feeling-,  whbh,  to  say  the  least, 
are  not  often  found  in  combination.  Doctor 
Mason's  sermons  are  distinguished  for  bold  and 
elevated  thought,  for  a  style  of  classical  elegance, 
and  for  overwhelming  appeals  to  the  understand- 
ing and  the  heart.  The  sermons  of  Dr.  Chalmers 
can  hardly  fail  to  be  read  with  interest,  as  the 
offspring  of  an  inventive  and  powerful  mind  ;  and 
as  containing  a  lucid  exhibition  of  divine  truth ; 
though  it  were  much  to  be  desired  that  the  style 
in  which  they  are  written  had  been  less  diffuse 
and  involved.  Robert  Hall  is,  in  my  opinion,  the 
first  writer  of  sermons  of  the  age.  The  irresisti- 
ble force  of  his  reasoning,  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  his  thoughts,  and  the  dignified  and  graceful 
manner  in  which  they  are  expressed,  in  connexion 
with  the  truly  evangelical  spirit  which  pervades 
them,  render  his  sermons  as  perfect  specimens  of 
this  kind  of  writing,  perhaps,  as  the  world  may 
expect  to  see.  I  might  extend  this  list  almost  inde- 
finitely, but  I  am  willing  to  leave  much  to  your 
own  judgment ;  and  those  which  have  been  men- 
tioned are  probably  enough  to  occupy  as  much 
leisure  as  you  will  be  able  to  give  to  this  kind  of 
reading. 

Some  portion  of  your  religious  reading  will  of 
course  be  of  a  miscellaneous  character.  Without 
attempting   to    give   you    a   list  of  books  in  this 


92  LETTER  STO 

department,  (for  I  should  not  know  where  to  begin 
or  where  to  end,)  I  will  simply  mention  two  or 
three  authors  whose  works  appear  to  me  to  have  a 
special  claim  upon  your  attention.  Wilberforce's 
Practical  View  has  probably  been  one  of  the  most 
useful  books  which  the  present  age  has  produced. 
Its  influence  in  elevating  the  standard  of  piety, 
especially  in  the  higher  circles  in  Great  Britain,  it 
is  impossible  adequately  to  estimate,  and  happily 
its  circulation  has  been  extended  through  almost 
every  part  of  Protestant  Christendom.  In  an 
interview  which  I  was  once  privileged  to  hold 
with  that  venerable  man,  I  remember  his  adverting 
with  the  highest  gratification  and  yet  with  the 
deepest  humility,  to  the  success  with  which  God 
had  been  pleased  to  crown  that  effort  of  his  for 
the  advancement  of  evangelical  truth  and  piety; 
and  there  was  every  thing  in  his  remarks  and  in 
his  manner  of  making  them,  to  indicate  that  he 
regarded  himself  only  as  an  unworthy  instrument, 
and  ascribed  to  God  all  the  glory.  The  works  of 
Doctor  Dick  of  Scotland,  in  several  volumes, 
beginning  with  "  the  Christian  Philosopher,"  are 
exceedingly  well  worthy  not  only  of  being  read, 
but  diligently  studied.  No  other  writer  within 
my  knowledge  has  so  happily  illustrated  the  mu- 
tual relations  of  science  and  religion  ;  and  whoever 


A     DAUGHTER.  93 

can  read  his  admirable  works  without  finding  the 
powers  of  his  intellect  quickened,  and  his  reverence 
for  the  divine  character  increased,  and  his  views 
of  his  own  insignificance  and  unworthiness  deep- 
ened, and  a  spirit  of  benevolence  glowing  more 
intensely  in  his  bosom,  must  either  be  destitute  of 
an  understanding  to  comprehend  what  he  reads, 
or  must  have  a  heart  that  is  proof  against  the  most 
hallowed,  the  most  impressive  exhibitions  of  divine 
truth.  The  writings  of  the  "Rev.  John  Angell 
James,  consisting  of  several  practical  treatises  on 
different  subjects,  as  they  have  acquired  a  great 
and  deserved  popularity  in  this  country,  will  not, 
I  trust,  escape  your  attention.  They  are  charac- 
terized by  an  uncommonly  attractive  style  and 
copiousness  and  originality  of  thought,  and  exhibii 
the  truths  and  duties  of  Christianity  with  great 
unction  and  loveliness.  I  perceive  that  a  new 
work  from  this  interesting  writer  is  just  announced, 
designed  particularly  to  aid  the  inquiring  sinner; 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  prove  a  most  use- 
ful auxiliary  to  the  cause  of  revivals. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  letter  without  urging  you 
to  a  diligent  and  daily  perusal  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Remember  that  this  is  the  great  fountain 
of  wisdom  ;  that  it  contains  an  infallible  record  of 
the  dispensations  of  God  towards  our  world ;  that 


94  LETTERS     TO 

it  faithfully  exhibits  the  character  of  man,  and 
opens  up  a  way  by  which  he  may  attain  to  a 
glorious  destination.  Recollect,  too,  that  there  is 
nothing  which  approaches  the  Bible,  as  a  mere 
human  composition,  in  point  of  interest ;  no  other 
historical  record  of  equal  antiquity  ;  no  other  spe- 
cimens with  which  those  of  the  scriptures  can  be 
compared,  of  beautiful  simplicity  or  overpowering 
grandeur.  You  may  find  various  important  helps 
to  the  study  of  the  scriptures  ;  but  there  is  none 
within  my  knowledge  which  I  deem  so  important 
as  the  Introduction  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hartwell  Home ;  a  work 
which  for  extent  of  well  digested  Biblical  learning 
has  scarcely  a  parallel  in  the  productions  of  any 
age.  I  say  again,  then,  read  the  Bible  attentively, 
every  day  of  your  life.  Read  it  in  its  connexion, 
observing  carefully  how  one  part  of  it  is  illustrated 
and  confirmed  by  another.  Read  it  with  a  deep 
and  practical  impression  that  it  contains  the  words 
of  eternal  life;  — a  message,  which  he  that  be- 
lieveth  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned.  In  this  way  your  mind  will 
become  early  imbued  with  heavenly  wisdom, 
your  affections  will  become  purified  and  elevated, 
and  your  whole  character  gradually  conformed 
to  that  standard  of  perfection  which  the  Bible 
reveals. 


A     DAUGHTER.  95 

With  the  earnest  hope  that  you  may  obey  these 
directions,  and  thus  become  wise  and  good  while 
vou  are  young, 

I  remain  Your  ever  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER  VII. 

INDEPENDENCE    OF    MIND. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  There  is  scarcely  any 
quality  which  is  more  frequently  the  theme  of 
eulogy  among  all  classes,  than  that  which  is  to 
constitute  the  subject  of  this  letter.  The  good 
and  the  bad,  alike,  will  extol  something,  which 
each  calls  independence  of  mind ;  and  all  will 
agree  that  the  quality  which  is  indicated  by  this 
language,  is  an  essential  element  in  a  truly  noble 
character.  But  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
expression  has  a  variety  of  meaning  with  different 
individuals ;  that  with  some  it  indicates  what  is 
truly  great  and  noble,  with  others,  what  is  un- 
lovely, and  even  odious :  it  becomes  therefore,  a 
matter  of  importance  that  you  should  distinguish 
the  precious  from  the  vile  ;  that  you  should  take 
care  to  cultivate  genuine  independence  of  charac- 
ter, and  not  deceive  yourself  with  something 
which  has  been  unjustly  complimented  with  the 
name. 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  97 

Let  me  apprise  you,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that 
true  independence  is  something  entirely  different 
from  rashness.  There  are  those  who  pride  them- 
selves on  forming  a  hasty  opinion,  and  adopting  a 
course  of  conduct,  even  in  relation  to  subjects  of 
great  moment,  without  stopping  to  look  at  the 
indications  of  Providence,  to  reflect  at  all  on  pro- 
bable consequences.  It  matters  little  with  them 
though  they  act  entirely  in  the  dark,  provided 
only  their  movements  are  so  rapid  and  boisterous 
as  to  excite  attention.  Persons  of  this  character, 
you  will  always  find,  run  themselves  into  a  thou- 
sand needless  difficulties.  Even  if  they  chance  to 
go  right,  every  judicious  person  will  consider  it  a 
matter  of  mere  accident,  and  to  say  the  least,  will 
give  them  far  less  credit  for  virtuous  conduct,  than 
if  they  had  adopted  the  same  course  with  fore- 
thought and  deliberation. 

True  independence  of  the  mind  is  equally  un- 
like obstinacy  —  another  quality  with  which  it  is 
often  confounded.  When  a  person  has  once 
formed  an  opinion,  and  expressed  it,  especially 
with  a  great  degree  of  confidence,  and  perhaps 
withal  with  some  publicity,  he  is  under  strong 
temptation,  from  the  pride  of  consistency,  to  retain 
that  opinion,  even  in  spite  of  light  which  ought  to 
induce  him  to  abandon  it.  The  secret  feeling  of 
his  heart  is,  that  it  would  be  a  reflection  either 
7 


98  LETTERS     TO 

upon  his  discernment  or  his  firmness,  to  avow  a 
change  in  his  convictions  ;  and  hence  he  endea- 
vors to  shut  his  eyes  upon  the  evidence  which 
might  be  likely  to  work  such  a  change ;  or  if  the 
light  is  irresistible,  and  the  change  is  forced  upon 
him,  he  will  refuse  to  acknowledge  it,  and  will 
even  act  in  a  manner  which  he  knows  to  be  con- 
trary to  his  own  interest,  rather  than  confess  that 
he  has  been  in  a  mistake.  This  is  nothing  short 
of  the  most  pitiable  obstinacy ;  and  whoever  exhi- 
bits it,  exposes  himself  to  deserved  contempt. 
Kemember  that  it  is  an  honor  to  confess  an  error 
as  soon  as  you  discover  it,  and  as  publicly  as  you 
may  have  avowed  it.  All  will  think  the  better  of 
you  for  doing  so  ;  or  if  there  be  any  exceptions, 
they  are  those  whose  praise  is  censure,  and  whose 
censure  praise. 

Equally  remote  is  the  quality  which  I  would 
recommend  from  a  contempt  of  the  opinion  of 
others.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  persons,  who 
seem  to  regard  their  own  opinion  as  infallible,  and 
who  treat  the  opinion  of  others  with  proportionate 
disrespect.  No  matter  though  the  subject  be  one, 
in  respect  to  which  they  may  be  utterly  ignorant, 
they  will  deliver  their  opinion  with  dictatorial 
confidence,  and  will  treat  every  objection,  and 
every  query,  as  if  it  were,  of  course,  the  offspring 
of  folly  or  impertinence.     True  independence,  so 


A     DAUGHTER.  99 

far  from  giving  its  sanction  to  this  spirit,  disdains 
not  to  ask  advice  of  the  wise,  and  always  treats 
their  opinions  with  respect,  though  it  does  not 
yield  to  them  an  implicit  consent.  You  need  not 
fear  that  you  will  forfeit  your  character  for  deci- 
sion, by  asking  judicious  friends  to  counsel  you 
on  any  important  subject  on  which  you  may  be 
called  to  act ;  indeed,  a  neglect  to  do  so,  would 
justly  expose  you  to  the  charge  of  vanity  and  pre- 
sumption. On  the  subject  of  asking  advice,  how- 
ever, let  me  give  you  two  brief  directions.  One 
is  that  you  should  consult  only  those  whose  ad- 
vice is  worthy  of  your  attention  ;  the  other  is,  that 
you  should  never  consult  any  one,  after  your 
decision  is  formed.  It  is  nothing  better  than  an 
insult  to  a  friend,  to  go  through  the  formality  of 
asking  his  advice,  and  subjecting  him  to  the 
trouble  of  giving  it,  when  your  opinion  is  deci- 
sively made  up,  and  you  only  wish  him  to  sanc- 
tion it.  You  cannot  adopt  this  course  without 
some  danger ;  for  if  the  individual  whom  you 
consult  happens  to  discover  the  secret,  he  must  be 
a  good-natured  person  indeed,  not  to  be  vexed  at 
it ;  if  he  happens  to  advise  you  contrary  to  your 
pre-determination,  then  you  subject  yourself  to 
the  unpleasant  necessity  of  acting  contrary  to  his 
opinion,  after  you  had  formally  sought  it.  It  is 
wise  to  seek   counsel  of  proper  persons ;   but   it 


100  LETTERS     TO 

should  always  be  to  assist  one  to  form  an  opinion, 
not  merely  to  strengthen  it  after  it  is  formed. 

The  independence  which  I  wish  )'ou  to  culti- 
vate, is  that  quality  which  leads  us  to  form  all  our 
opinions  deliberately,  and  from  the  best  light 
which  we  can  gain,  and  then  to  adhere  to  them 
firmly  and  practically,  until  there  shall  be  suffi- 
cient evidence  to  reverse  our  convictions, 

This  quality  discovers  itself  in  the  very  forma- 
tion of  opinions  or  principles.  It  keeps  the  mind 
steady,  amidst  the  conflicting  views  which  may 
be  presented  before  it.  It  causes  it  to  look  atten- 
tively at  the  evidence  on  every  side,  and  to  resist 
the  undue  influence  of  circumstances,  and  to  form 
its  conclusions  after  intelligent  and  impartial  in- 
quiry. Not  that  a  person  with  this  principle  in 
operation  will  never  be  embarrassed  with  difficul- 
ties in  respect  to  the  path  of  duty ;  these  difficul- 
ties may  accumulate  to  such  a  degree,  as  to  keep 
the  mind  for  a  long  time  in  suspense  ;  but  let 
them  be  as  formidable  as  they  may,  the  mind  will 
soberly  and  calmly  consider  them  all,  and  will 
ultimately  dispose  of  them  to  its  own  satisfaction. 
If  you  have  genuine  independence,  then,  it  will 
keep  you  from  inconsiderate  and  hasty  judgments. 
It  will  save  you  from  being  enslaved  to  the 
opinions  of  others,  and  from  adopting  notions 
merely  because  they  are  current  in  the  community 


A     DAUGHTER.  101 

around  you.  In  short,  it  will  subject  you  to  the 
labor  of  forming  your  own  judgments;  but  when 
they  are  once  formed,  it  will  ensure  to  you  the 
satisfaction  of  thinking  that  they  are  your  own. 

But  this  trait  of  character  discovers  itself,  not 
only  in  the  process  by  which  we  arrive  at  our 
convictions  of  what  is  true  and  right,  but  also  in 
an  intelligent  adherence  to  those  convictions  after 
they  are  attained.  It  usually  happens  that  those 
opinions  which  are  formed  most  inconsiderately, 
are  relinquished  most  easily ;  whereas,  they  who 
have  come  to  their  conclusions  by  a  process  of 
deliberate  and  independent  thought,  rarely  have 
occasion  to  change  their  views,  and  never,  but 
upon  the  most  patient  and  mature  reflection.  In 
other  words,  the  mind  that  thinks  for  itself  in  the 
beginning,  will  almost  of  course  continue  to  think 
for  itself  during  the  whole  of  its  subsequent  course. 
If  difficulties  arise  in  connexion  with  any  opinion 
which  were  not  contemplated  when  that  opinion 
was  originally  formed,  they  will,  of  course,  be 
carefully  weighed,  and  due  importance  will  be 
given  to  them  ;  but  the  mind  will  not  be  at  the 
mercy  of  every  caviller ;  unless  there  be  new  and 
decisive  evidence  of  an  opposite  kind,  presented 
to  it,  in  which  case  it  would  be  obstinacy  not  to 
yield,  it  marches  on,  in  the  strength  and  majesty 
of  its  own  original  convictions. 


102  LETTERS     TO 

I  have  spoken  of  an  independent  mind  as  it 
discovers  itself  in  forming  and  holding  fast  its  own 
opinions.  Let  me  add,  that  it  is  not  less  conspicu- 
ous in  reducing  principles  to  practice ;  in  other 
words,  in  steadily  persevering  in  what  we  believe 
to  be  duty.  It  requires  far  less  strength  of  pur- 
pose to  avow  good  principles,  even  in  times  of 
trial,  than  practically  to  exhibit  those  principles  in 
an  unyielding  course  of  action.  But  as  princi- 
ples are  nothing  without  practice,  so  it  is  the 
noblest  office  of  genuine  independence,  to  carry 
the  mind  forward  in  a  course  of  action  correspond- 
ing with  its  own  convictions ;  to  keep  the  hands 
nerved  for  effort  when  there  may  be  a  thousand 
pleas  for  relaxing  exertion  ;  and  to  give  to  this 
activity  that  direction  only,  which  conscience  ap- 
proves, when  the  strongest  temptations  offer  them" 
selves  to  an  opposite  course.  You  may  dream  of 
your  own  independence  as  much  as  you  please, 
but  unless  it  be  of  this  practical  kind  which  influ- 
ences conduct  as  well  as  opinions,  and  which  is 
carried  out  into  all  the  departments  of  human 
duty,  you  have  much  reason  to  believe  that 
neither  you  nor  the  world  will  be  the  better  for 
your  having  possessed  it. 

The  advantages  of  an  independent  mind  will 
readily  occur  to  you  upon  a  moment's  reflection. 
One  of  them  is,  that  it  furnishes  the  best  security 


A     DAUGHTER.  103 

3tou  can  have,  independently  of  a  principle  of 
Christian  holiness,  against  false  principles  and  cor- 
rupt practice.  It  is  especially  in  consequence  of 
the  want  of  this  quality,  that  so  many  young  per- 
sons become  victims  to  the  most  practical  and  fatal 
errors.  They  are  placed  in  circumstances  in 
which  it  is  fashionable  to  think  lightly  of  religion, 
or  fashionable  to  disbelieve  its  truths ;  and  though 
at  first,  conscience  may  remonstrate  against  their 
throwing  themselves  into  the  current,  yet  they 
have  not  strength  of  purpose  to  resist  it ;  and 
principles  which  were  at  first  adopted  tremb- 
lingly, and  with  severe  compunction,  are  soon 
rendered  more  tolerable  by  habit  ;  and  at  no  dis- 
tant period  they  become  the  governing  principles 
of  the  life.  A  proper  share  of  independence  would 
keep  you  from  adopting  any  opinions,  without 
due  consideration  ;  and  if  error  in  any  of  its  forms 
should  be  proposed  to  you,  and  you  should  stop  to 
canvass  it,  and  should  determine  that  you  would 
not  receive  it  but  upon  deliberate  and  intelligent 
conviction,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
you  would  not  receive  it  at  all ;  for  there  is  no 
fundamental  error  in  religion  or  morals  which  is 
not  seen  to  be  such  by  any  one  who  examines  it 
with  due  attention  and  impartiality. 

It    is    another   advantage    of   genuine  indepen- 
dence,   and   ought    to    be   with   you    a   powerful 


104  LETTERS     TO 

motive  for  cultivating  it,  that  it  is  fitted  to  give 
you  a  proper  degree  of  self-respect.  If  you  see  an 
individual  who  betrays  great  indecision  of  cha- 
racter, and  is  a  slave  to  the  opinion  of  every  body, 
having  no  opinion  of  his  own,  you  cannot  regard 
that  individual  other  than  with  a  species  of  pity, 
which  borders  well  nigh  upon  contempt.  And 
the  same  must  be  true  in  respect  to  yourself  —  if 
you  are  conscious  that  you  have  no  stability  of 
purpose,  and  that  your  opinions  of  characters  and 
things  are  not  your  own,  but  are  taken  upon  trust, 
and  that  you  do  not  think  your  own  thoughts  even 
upon  the  most  common  subjects,  you  may  try  to 
respect  yourself,  but  you  cannot ;  and  moreover, 
you  will  be  compelled  to  feel  the  mortifying  con- 
viction that  others  do  not  respect  you.  What- 
ever you  or  others  may  wish  in  regard  to  it,  it  is 
not  in  human  nature  that  it  should  be  otherwise. 
As  you  desire,  therefore,  to  live  in  the  favorable 
regards  of  others,*  or  even  of  yourself,  cultivate 
this  trait  which  I  am  recommending. 

And  I  may  add,  that  this  quality  is  not  less 
essential  to  your  usefulness.  The  fact  that  you 
had  lost  self-respect,  would  destroy,  in  a  great 
degree,  your  power  of  exertion  ;  or,  what  is  the 
same  thing,  would  diminish  the  motives  to  it ;  and 
the  fact  that  you  had  lost  the  respect  of  others, 
would  not  only  operate  in  the  same  manner,  but 


A     DAUGHTER.  105 

would  tend  to  a  similar  result,  by  diminishing 
your  opportunities  of  usefulness.  And,  moreover, 
let  your  efforts  be  what  they  might,  little  real  good 
could  be  expected  from  them,  so  long  as  they  were 
not  subject  to  the  direction  of  an  independent 
mind;  for  if  you  should  labor  for  a  good  object 
one  day,  there  could  be  no  security  that  you 
would  not  abandon  it  for  an  evil  one  the  next ;  or 
if  you  should  seem  to  be  laboring  successfully,  for 
a  while,  it  is  quite  probable  that  you  might  soon 
defeat  your  purpose  by  some  eccentric  and  ill 
advised  movement.  Under  how  much  greater 
advantages  will  your  efforts  be  made,  if  you  culti- 
vate a.  suitable  spirit  of  independence  !  The  fact 
that  you  are  conscious  of  doing  right  will  render 
your  exertions  easy  and  unembarrassed.  The  fact 
that  you  have  the  respect  and  confidence  of  those 
around  you,  will  multiply  your  means  of  doing 
good.  And  the  fact  that  you  are  acting  with 
reflection  and  firmness,  will  impart  an  energy  and 
efficiency  to  your  whole  deportment.  As  you 
would  be  spared  the  reproach  of  living  to  little  or 
no  purpose,  let  me  say  again,  cultivate  a  truly 
independent  mind. 

As  the  most  effectual  means  of  making  the 
attainment  to  which  I  have  been  urging  you,  let 
me  counsel  you  to  cherish  a  deep  sense  of  the 
constant   presence  of  God,  and  of  your  account- 


106  LETTERS     TO 

ableness  to  him  for  every  part  of  your  conduct. 
An  habitual  impression  of  this  kind  will  make  you 
comparatively  indifferent,  both  to  the  censures  and 
applauses  of  mortals,  and  will  lead  you  to  regard 
every  other  question  as  unimportant,  in  compari- 
son with  the  simple  question  of  duty.  And  the 
consequence  of  this  cannot  fail  to  be,  that  you 
will  judge  carefully  and  honestly  of  what  is  right, 
and  will  act  with  unyielding  decision.  No  matter 
what  temptations  may  spread  themselves  before 
3^011,  to  divert  you  from  the  path  of  duty,  the 
reflection,  "  thou,  God,  seest  me,"  brought  home 
to  your  understanding  and  conscience,  will  ensure 
you  the  victory  over  them.  This  is  something 
distinct  from  natural  inflexibility  of  character :  it 
is  independence  of  mind,  based  on  religious  prin- 
ciple ;  and  it  is  this  especially  which  I  urge  you 
to  cultivate  .  That  I  may  be  permitted  to  see  your 
character  forming  under  the  influence  of  this  ele- 
vated principle,  is  the  earnest  wish  of 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER    VIII. 


FORMING    THE    MANNERS. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  Next  in  importance  to  the 
culture  of  your  heart  and  understanding,  is  the 
formation  of  your  manners.  You  shall  have  the 
grounds  on  which  I  form  this  opinion. 

There  are  multitudes  who  will  have  no  other 
criterion  than  is  hereby  furnished,  by  which  to 
judge  of  your  character.  In  the  varied  inter- 
course of  society,  you  meet  many  persons,  perhaps 
only  for  a  single  time  in  the  course  of  your  life. 
They  almost  of  course  form  some  opinion  of  you  ; 
and  that  opinion  is  built  upon  what  they  witness 
of  your  general  appearance.  With  good  manners 
you  may  leave  an  impression  upon  a  stranger 
from  a  casual  meeting  with  him,  which  may 
cause  him  to  hold  you  in  grateful  remembrance 
through  life.  With  manners  of  an  opposite  cha- 
racter, you  would  either  be  passed  unnoticed,  or 
perhaps  remembered  only  as  a  glaring  specimen 
of  affectation  or  rudeness. 


109  LETTERS     TO 

It  deserves  also  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  in 
nearly  every  case  the  first  impressions  of  the  cha- 
racter are  gathered  from  the  manners ;  and  every 
one  knows  that  first  impressions  are  not  easily 
eradicated.  Instances  are  not  uncommon  in  which 
an  individual,  on  the  first  introduction  to  another, 
has  been  struck  with  some  apparent  defect  of  dis- 
position, as  indicated  by  the  manners  ;  and  though 
he  may  have  been  subsequently  convinced  that 
the  impression  was  a  mistaken  one,  has  found  it 
next  to  impossible  to  forget  it  in  the  estimate  he 
forms  of  the  character.  If  your  manners  are  as 
they  should  be,  it  will  give  you  this  great  advan- 
tage in  respect  to  every  acquaintance  you  form  — 
that  the  individual,  from  the  beginning,  will  be 
prepossessed  in  your  favor.  If  otherwise,  the  best 
you  can  hope  is,  that  in  finding  your  way  ulti- 
mately into  the  favorable  regards  of  other  people, 
you  will  have  to  encounter  a  mass  of  prejudice. 

But  leaving  first  impressions  out  of  view,  there 
is  something  in  the  very  constitution  of  human 
nature  which  inclines  us  to  form  a  judgment  of 
character  from  manners.  It  is  always  taken  for 
granted,  unless  there  is  decisive  evidence  to  the 
contrary,  that  the  manners  are  the  genuine  expres- 
sion of  the  feelings  ;  and  even  where  such  evidence 
exists,  that  is,  where  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  external  appearance  does  injustice 


A     DAUGHTER 


109 


to  the  moral  dispositions,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
where  the  heart  is  too  favorably  represented  by 
the  manners,  there  is  still  a  delusion  practised 
upon  the  mind  by  what  passes  under  the  eye, 
which  it  is  not  easy  to  resist.  Yon  may  take  two 
individuals  of  precisely  the  same  degree  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  worth,  and  let  the  manners  of 
the  one  be  bland  and  attractive,  and  those  of  the 
other  distant  or  awkward,  and  yon  will  find  that 
the  former  will  pass  through  life  with  far  more 
ease  and  comfort  than  the  latter  ;  for,  though  good 
manners  will  never  effectually  conceal  a  bad  heart, 
and  are  in  no  case,  any  atonement  for  it,  yet, 
taken  in  connexion  with  amiable  and  virtuous 
dispositions,  they  naturally  and  necessarily  gain 
upon  the  respect  and  good  will  of  mankind. 

You  will  instantly  perceive,  if  the  preceding 
remarks  are  correct,  that  it  is  not  only  your 
interest  to  cultivate  good  manners,  as  you  hereby 
recommend  yourself  to  the  favorable  regards  of 
others,  but  also  your  duty,  as  it  increases,  in  no 
small  degree,  your  means  of  usefulness.  It  will 
give  you  access  to  many  persons,  and  give  you  an 
influence  over  them,  whom  you  could  otherwise 
never  approach,  much  less  whose  feelings  and 
purposes  you  could  never  hope,  in  any  measure, 
to  control.  I  have  known  one  instance  at  least, 
and   I    doubt   not    that   thousands  of  others  have 


110  LETTERS     TO 

occurred,  in  which  an  affectionate  and  winning 
manner  has  been  rendered  instrumental,  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  of  breaking  up  the  delusions  of 
impenitence;  and,  as  I  trust,  of  saving  a  soul  from 
death,  and  hiding  a  multitude  of  sins.  In  the 
very  case  to  which  I  refer,  I  have  little  doubt  that 
an  air  of  indifference  or  severity  would  have 
closed  up  the  avenues  to  the  heart,  and  not  im- 
probably barred  it,  in  all  future  time,  against  the 
light  and  power  of  conviction. 

There  is  yet  another  reason  why  this  subject  is 
deserving  of  your  attention.  It  is,  that  as  the  man- 
ners derive  their  complexion  in  a  great  degree  from 
the  feelings,  so  the  feelings  are  in  turn  innuencd 
by  the  manners.  Suppose  from  your  partiality  to 
some  friend,  you  should  undertake  to  adopt  some 
weak  peculiarity  in  her  deportment,  it  is  more 
than  probable,  if  the  foolish  experiment  should 
succeed,  that  you  would  find  yourself,  at  no  distant 
period,  with  a  set  of  feelings  strongly  assimilated 
to  those  of  the  individual  whom  you  had  sought 
to  copy.  Cultivate  good  manners,  then,  as  one 
means  of  improving  your  dispositions,  and  impart- 
ing real  excellence  to  your  character. 

That  you  may  attain  the  object  which  I  am 
recommending,  let  me  advise  you  to  lay  the  foun- 
dation aright,  by  cultivating  good  and  amiable 
feelings.     Without  these,  though  you  should  attain 


A     DAUGHTER.  ill 

what  may  pass  with  the  world  for  good  manners, 
they  will  only  serve  to  convict  you  of  hypocrisy  ; 
for,  however  it  may  be  with  others,  you  must 
yourself  know  that  they  do  not  indicate  your  real 
character.  Endeavor  then  to  banish  from  your 
heart  all  evil  dispositions,  and  to  cherish  every 
temper  that  is  amiable  and  praiseworthy.  Resist 
with  unyielding  firmness  the  operations  of  pride, 
envy,  jealousy,  and  every  other  bad  passion. 
There  are  indeed  infinitely  higher  motives  which 
urge  you  to  this  course  than  are  derived  from  its 
influence  in  forming  }'our  manners ;  though  it  is 
with  reference  to  this  exclusively  that  I  direct 
your  attention  to  it  now.  Nothing  is  so  effectual 
a  security  for  good  manners,  at  least  nothing  con- 
stitutes so  good  a  foundation  for  them,  as  the 
spirit  of  Christianity.  Let  that  reign  in  the  heart, 
purifying,  softening,  elevating  its  various  affec- 
tions and  propensities,  and  there  you  may  look 
with  confidence  for  an  exhibition  of  genuine 
politeness. 

In  connexion  with  the  cultivation  of  benevolent 
feelings,  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  acquire 
that  habit  of  self-possession  which  will  enable  you 
at  all  times  to  act  out  your  feelings  without  embar- 
rassment. Where  the  manners  are  seen  to  indicate 
amiable  moral  qualities,  and  especially  the  gentle 
and  benignant  spirit  of  the  gospel,  this  will  go  far 


1  12  LETTERS     TO 

to  atone  for  any  lesser  imperfections  by  which  they 
may  be  marked.  Nevertheless,  it  is  desirable  that 
you  should  appear  not  only  amiable  but  uncon- 
strained ;  that  you  should  feel  at  ease  yourself, 
and  be  able  to  put  others  at  ease  around  you. 
You  will  be  placed,  almost  of  course,  in  a  variety 
of  situations  :  it  is  important  that  you  should  have 
that  habitual  self-command  that  will  enable  you 
readily  to  accommodate  yourself  to  the  peculiarities 
of  each ;  and  at  least  to  conceal  from  those  around 
you,  the  secret  that  you  are  not  perfectly  at  home. 
I  do  not  say  that  this  is  essential  to  your  passing 
in  good  society,  but  it  certainly  is  essential  to  the 
perfection  of  good  manners. 

It  is  important  also  that  you  should  form  a  pro- 
per estimate  of  your  own  relative  standing  in  so- 
ciety ;  and  of  what  belongs  to  the  various  relations 
you  sustain  to  those  around  you.  If  you  imagine 
yourself  of  more  consequence  than  you  really  are, 
it  follows,  almost  of  course,  that  you  will  betray 
that  opinion  in  an  air  of  self-respect,  which  bor- 
ders upon  arrogance.  If  you  form  too  low  an 
opinion  of  yourself,  you  will  be  likely  to  make  it 
manifest  in  a  cringing  manner,  which  cannot  fail 
to  leave  an  impression  of  your  inferiority.  If  you 
form  a  true  relative  estimate  of  yourself,  it  will  be 
a  security  against  the  extremes  both  of  arrogance 
and  of  servility  ;  it  will  render  you  dignified  with- 


A.     DAUGHTER.  1 13 

out  being  haughty  ;  condescending  without  sacri- 
ficing a  proper  self-respect,  and  will  make  you 
acceptable  alike  in  the  higher  and  lower  walks  of 
life. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  it  is  of  great 
importance  to  the  formation  of  good  manners,  that 
you  should  be  accustomed  to  mingle  in  good  so- 
ciety. I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  select  all 
your  associates  from  the  more  elevated  walks  of 
life  ;  for  this  would  be  likely  to  unfit  you  for 
mingling  with  ease  and  advantage  among  the 
lower  classes  ;  but  I  would  have  you  so  much  in 
cultivated  society  that  you  shall  feel  perfectly  at 
home,  and  that  your  manners  shall  appear  to  have 
been  formed  upon  a  model  of  elegance  and  refine- 
ment. It  is  a  rare  instance  indeed,  that  a  young 
female,  who  is  habitually  accustomed  to  society 
of  a  rude  or  grovelling  character,  ever  becomes 
graceful  or  dignified  in  her  own  manners  ;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  where  her  intimate  associates  are 
persons  of  intelligence  and  refinement,  it  is  almost 
a  matter  of  course,  that  she  becomes  conformed,  in 
a  good  degree,  to  the  models  with  which  she  is 
conversant. 

But   while   you  ought   highly  to    estimate   the 

privilege  of  good  society  as  a  means  of  forming 

your    manners,    you   cannot  too   cautiously  guard 

against  servile  imitation.     You  may  have  a  friend, 

8 


114  LETTERS     TO 

whose  manners  seem  to  you  to  combine  every 
quality  that  is  necessary  to  render  them  a  perfect 
model  ;  who  unites  elegant  simplicity  with  gene- 
rous frankness,  and  dignified  address  with  winning 
condescension  ;  who,  in  short,  is  every  .thing,  in 
this  respect,  that  you  could  wish  to  be  yourself ; 
—  but  after  all,  it  would  be  unwise  in  you  to  be- 
come a  servile  copyist  even  of  such  manners. 
For  you  are  to  remember  that  a  certain  cast  of 
manners  suits  a  certain  cast  of  character;  and 
unless  your  character  were  precisely  that  of  the 
individual  whom  you  should  imitate,  you  would, 
in  attempting  to  assume  her  address,  deservedly 
expose  yourself  to  the  charge  of  affectation.  You 
will  therefore  do  yourself  much  better  service  by 
looking  at  good  models  in  a  general  manner,  and 
by  endeavoring  to  become  imbued  with  their 
spirit,  than  by  making  any  direct  efforts  to  become 
exactly  conformed  to  them.  Indeed  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  you  will  not  reap  every  possible 
advantage  by  simply  mingling  in  their  society, 
without  even  thinking  of  them  as  models. 

Let  me  caution  you  here,  more  particularly,  to 
be  on  your  guard  against  affectation.  This  is 
very  easily  acquired,  and  is  so  common  a  fault, 
that  the  absence  of  it  is  always  remarked  as  a 
great  excellence.  I  have  known  females  of  many 
amiable  qualities,  and    considerable   intelligence, 


A     DAUGHTER.  115 

who  have  been  absolutely  spoiled  for  society  by 
attempting  to  assume  in  their  manners  what  did 
not  belong  to  them.  Wherever  any  thing  of  this 
kind  exists,  it  requires  but  little  sagacity  to  detect 
it ;  and  even  those  who  are  not  exactly  sensible 
where  the  evil  lies,  are  still  aware  that  there  is 
something  which  needs  to  be  corrected.  It  hap- 
pens, however,  too  frequently,  that  what  is  quite 
palpable  to  every  body  else,  escapes  the  observa- 
tion of  the  individual  who  is  the  subject  of  it ;  and 
I  have  known  glaring  cases,  in  which  the  kindest 
intimation  of  the  fact,  from  a  friend,  has  been  met 
with  expressions  of  resentment.  I  beg  that  you 
will  not  only  have  your  ears  open  to  any  admo- 
nition you  may  ever  receive  on  this  subject,  but 
your  eyes  open,  to  inspect  narrowly  your  own 
conduct,  that  you  may  detect  the  fault,  if  it  really 
exists.  It  is  always  regarded,  and  justly  regarded, 
as  an  indication  of  consummate  foil)- ;  and  unless 
it  happens  to  be  associated  with  an  unusual 
cluster  of  real  excellencies,  it  brings  upon  the  in- 
dividual little  less  than  absolute  contempt.  Let 
your  manners  be  as  much  improved  as  they  may, 
but  regard  it  as  an  essential  matter  that  they 
should  be  your  own. 

Beware  also  of  an  ostentatious  manner.  By 
this  I  mean  that  kind  of  manner  which  savors  too 
much  of  display  ;  which  indicates  a  disposition  to 


116  LETTERS     TO 

make  yourself  too  conspicuous ;  and  which,  in 
short,  is  the  acting  out  of  a  spirit  of  self-confidence 
and  self-conceit.  This  appears  badly  enough  when 
discovered  in  a  man ;  but  in  a  female,  and  espe- 
cially in  a  young  female,  it  is  absolutely  intolera- 
ble. Not  that  I  wish  to  see  you  awkwardly  bash- 
ful, or  liable  to  embarrassment  from  every  slight 
change  of  circumstances ;  but  between  this  and 
the  ostentatious  manner  which  I  am  condemning, 
there  is  a  happy  medium  consisting  of  a  due  mix- 
ture of  confidence  and  modesty,  which  will  be 
equally  pleasant  to  yourself  and  those  with  whom 
you  associate.  But  if  you  must  err  on  either  ex- 
treme, I  had  rather  it  would  be  on  that  of  diffi- 
dence than  of  ostentation.  I  had  rather  you 
should  excite,  by  your  bashfulness,  a  feeling  of 
compassion,  than  by  your  excessive  confidence  a 
feeling  of  disgust. 

But  while  you  are  carefully  to  avoid  ostenta- 
tion, ypu  are  to  guard  with  no  less  caution  against 
a  studied  reserve.  We  sometimes  meet  with  per- 
sons whose  manners  leave  upon  our  minds  the. 
painful  impression  that  they  are  afraid  to  trust  us ; 
and  that  they  regard  both  our  actions  and  words 
with  suspicion.  Wherever  this  trait  appears,  it  is 
almost  certain  to  excite  anger  or  disgust.  Most 
persons  will  bear  any  thing  with  more  patience 
than  to  be  told,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  that 


A      DAUGHTER.  1 17 

they  are  unworthy  of  confidence.  A  significant 
smile,  or  nod,  or  look,  with  a  third  person,  which 
is  intended  not  to  be  understood  by  the  individual 
with  whom  you  are  conversing,  is  a  gross  violation 
of  propriety,  and  has  often  cost  a  deeply  wounded 
sensibility,  and  sometimes  a  valued  friendship. 
While  you  studiously  avoid  every  thing  of  this 
kind,  let  your  manners  be  characterized  by  a  noble 
frankness,  which,  in  whatever  circumstances  you 
are  placed,  shall  leave  no  doubt  of  your  sincerity. 
I  will  only  add,  that  you  should  avoid  every 
approach  to  a  haughty  and  overbearing  manner. 
I  would  fain  indulge  the  hope  that  your  feelings 
will  be  an  effectual  security  against  this  most 
offensive  characteristic ;  but  be  that  as  it  may,  I 
assure  you  that  you  can  never  exhibit  it,  but  at 
an  expense  of  reputation  which  you  can  ill  afford 
to  incur.  It  is  an  exhibition  of  pride,  which  is 
one  of  the  most  hateful  of  all  dispositions  ;  and  of 
pride  in  one  of  its  most  odious  forms.  If  you 
should  be  so  unhappy  as  to  furnish  an  example 
of  it,  whatever  variety  of  feeling  it  might  excite 
among  your  superiors  and  equals,  and  inferiors, 
you  may  rely  on  it  they  would  all  agree  to 
despise  you.  I  entreat  you,  therefore,  as  you  va- 
lue your  character  or  usefulness,  that  you  will 
always  be  courteous  and  condescending.  It  is  the 
mark  of   a  truly  noble   disposition  to    be  able  to 


118  LETTERS     TO 

treat  the  most  menial  and  dependent  with  kind- 
ness and  good  will. 

If  I  should  point  you  to  the  finest  model  of 
female  manners  which  it  has  ever  been  my  privi- 
lege to  observe,  and  one  which  will  compare  with 
the  most  perfect  models  of  this  or  any  other  age, 
I  should  repeat  a  venerated  name  which  I  have 
already  had  occasion  to  mention  in  another  con- 
nexion—  that  of  Mrs.  Hannah  More.  It  was  my 
privilege,  a  few  years  ago,  while  on  a  tour  through 
England,  for  health,  to  \i\  ke  a  visit  at  the  resi- 
dence of  this  distinguished  female ;  a  visit  which 
I  have  ever  since  regarded  as  among  the  happiest 
incidents  of  my  life.  At  that  time  she  numbered 
more  than  fourscore  years ;  but  the  vigor  of  her 
intellect  was  scarcely  at  all  impaired  ;  and  from 
what  she  was,  I  could  easily  conceive  what  she 
had  been  when  her  sun  was  at  its  meridian.  In 
her  person  she  was  rather  small,  but  was  a  speci- 
men of  admirable  symmetry.  In  her  manners  she 
united  the  dignity  and  refinement  of  the  court, 
with  the  most  exquisite  urbanity  and  gentleness 
which  the  female  character  in  its  loveliest  forms 
ever  exhibited.  She  impressed  me  continually 
with  a  sense  of  the  high  intellectual  and  moral 
qualities  by  which  she  was  distinguished,  but  still 
left  me  as  unconstrained  as  if  I  had  been  convers- 
ing with  my  beloved  child.     There  was  an  air  of 


A     DAUGHTER.  119 

graceful  and  unaffected  ease,  an  instinctive  regard 
to  the  most  delicate  proprieties  of  social  inter- 
course, a  readiness  to  communicate,  and  yet  a 
desire  to  listen,  the  dignity  of  conscious  merit 
united  with  the  humility  of  the  devoted  Christian  ; 
in  short,  there  was  such  an  assemblage  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  excellences  beaming  forth  in 
every  expression,  and  look,  and  attitude,  that  I 
could  scarcely  conceive  of  a  more  perfect  exhibi- 
tion of  human  character.  I  rejoice  that  it  is  your 
privilege  to  know  Mrs.  More  through  her  works  j 
and  I  can  form  no  better  wish  for  you  than  that 
you  may  imbibe  her  spirit,  and,  according  to  your 
humble  measure,  walk  in  her  footsteps. 

I  am,  with  earnest  prayers  for  your  happiness, 
Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER    IX. 


CONVERSATION. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  In  the  preceding  letter  I 
ha7e  given  you  some  general  directions  in  respect 
to  the  formation  of  your  manners.  The  subject 
on  which  I  am  now  to  address  you  is  closely  con- 
nected with  that ;  but  yet,  if  I  mistake  not,  is  suf- 
ficiently distinct  to  justify  a  consideration  of  it  m 
a  separate  letter. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  gift  of  conversation  is 
originally  possessed  in  very  unequal  measures ; 
and  that  while  some  have  a  native  aptitude  for 
social  intercourse,  others  seem  to  be  constitution- 
ally deficient  in  ease  and  fluency.  But  notwith- 
standing this  original  diversity,  there  is  perhaps 
no  talent  that  is  more  susceptible  of  improvement 
than  the  talent  for  conversation ;  and  though  you 
should  possess  it  in  ever  so  moderate  a  degree, 
you  may  still,  by  a  suitable  degree  of  attention, 
render  yourself,  in  this  respect,  decent  and  re- 
spectable. 


LETTERS     TO    A     DAUGHTER.  121 

The  first  requisite  for  conversing  well  is  a 
well  stored  and  cultivated  mind.  Without  this,  I 
acknowledge  that  you  may  talk  fluently,  and  talk 
abundantly,  and  if  you  please,  talk  humorously; 
but  you  can  never  be  qualified  to  hold  your  part 
to  advantage  in  intelligent  social  intercourse.  If 
you  move  in  the  walks  of  cultivated  society,  you 
will  find  that  a  great  variety  of  topics  will  come 
up,  beyond  the  mere  common  places  of  the  day  ; 
and  unless  you  have  become  considerably  con- 
versant with  the  various  departments  of  know- 
ledge, you  will  be  subjected  to  the  mortification 
of  betraying  your  ignorance  either  by  saying 
nothing,  or  by  saying  that  which  is  not  to  the  pur- 
pose. There  is  no  subject  of  importance,  the 
slightest  knowledge  of  which  may  not  be  of 
advantage  to  you  in  conversation  j  for  even  though 
it  should  be  too  limited  to  enable  you  to  impart 
any  thing  to  those  with  whom  you  converse,  it 
may  be  of  great  use  in  assisting  you  to  prosecute 
your  inquiries  with  intelligence,  and  thus  to  in- 
crease your  own  stock  of  information.  I  would 
say  then,  be  studious  to  gain  knowledge  on  every 
important  subject,  and  do  not  regard  even  the 
fragments  of  information  as  too  unimportant  to  be 
treasured  up  and  retained. 

Endeavor,  as  far  as  possible,  to  make  your  con- 
versation a  source  of  improvement.     The  gift  of 


122  LETTERS     TO 

speech,  like  every  other  endowment,  was  bestowed 
for  an  important  purpose  ;  and  that  purpose  can 
never  be  answered,  unless  it  is  made  the  vehicle 
for  communicating,  or  the  means  of  obtaining, 
useful  knowledge  or  good  impressions.  See  then 
that  you  use  this  invaluable  gift  as  not  abusing  it. 
Wherever  it  is  in  your  power  to  command  the  con- 
versation, make  it  a  primary  object  to  give  it  such 
a  turn  that  it  shall  subserve  the  intellectual  and 
moral  advantage  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  it. 
It  may  be  well  for  you,  with  reference  to  your  own 
improvement,  to  endeavor  to  introduce  such  topics 
as  may  best  suit  the  taste  or  talents  of  those  with 
whom  you  converse  ;  topics  upon  which  they  will 
be  most  at  home,  and  will  be  most  likely  to  throw 
out  thoughts  that  may  be  useful  to  you.  It  has 
often  happened  that  an  individual,  from  one  con- 
versation with  an  intelligent  friend,  has  gained 
more  light  on  a  particular  subject,  than  would 
have  been  gained  by  weeks  or  even  months,  of 
reading  or  reflection.  And  let  me  say,  there  are 
scarcely  any  circumstances  in  which  you  can  be 
placed,  in  which  you  may  not  render  the  conversa- 
tion a  source  of  some  advantage,  either  to  yourself 
or  others.  If  you  are  thrown  among  the  illiterate  and 
vulgar,  you  may,  in  a  single  half  hour,  do  some- 
thing to  enlighten  them  ;  you  may  even  be  instru- 
mental in  giving  a  new  direction  to  their  thoughts, 


A     DAUGHTER.  123 

and  ultimately  of  forming  their  character  in  a  bet- 
ter mould :  and  notwithstanding  their  ignorance 
on  most  subjects,  there  may  be  some  on  which 
they  may  be  able  to  instruct  you ;  and  thus,  after 
all,  you  may  be  mutually  benefitted  by  your  inter- 
course. Not  a  small  part  of  the  sins  of  almost 
every  individual  are  sins  of  the  tongue.  If  you 
keep  in  view  what  ought  to  be  the  great  end  of 
conversation,  it  will  secure  you,  in  a  good  degree, 
against  this  whole  class  of  offences. 

Let  me  caution  you  to  beware  of  talking  too 
much.  If  you  do  not  talk  to  the  purpose,  the 
less  you  say  the  better ;  but  even  if  you  do,  and 
if  withal,  you  are  gifted  with  the  best  powers  of 
conversation,  it  will  be  wise  for  you  to  guard 
against  the  imputation  of  excessive  loquacity.  I 
would  not,  by  any  means,  have  you  yield  to  a 
prudish  reserve ;  but  I  know  not  whether  even 
that  were  a  more  offensive  extreme  than  to  mono- 
polize the  conversation  of  a  whole  circle.  You 
are  to  remember  that  as  the  gift  of  speech  is  com- 
mon to  all,  so  there  are  few  who  are  not  inclined 
to  use  it ;  and  it  is  a  rare  case,  indeed,  that  you 
will  meet  an  individual  who  will  feel  satisfied  to 
sit  down  and  hear  another  talk  continually,  and 
have  the  conversation  addressed  to  himself,  with- 
out bearing  any  part  in  it.  But  at  any  rate,  you 
are  never  to  make  yourself  very  conspicuous  in 


124  LETTERS     TO 

conversation,  without  due  regard  to  circumstances. 
If,  for  instance,  you  are  among  persons  who  are 
3'our  superiors  in  age  or  standing  in  society,  there 
must  be  strong  circumstances  to  justify  you  in 
bearing  more  than  a  moderate  share  in  the  con- 
versation. And  if  you  should  actually  take  the 
lead  in  it,  let  it  appear  manifest  that  it  is  not 
because  you  are  predisposed  to  do  so,  but  because 
it  is  the  wish  of  others  that  you  should.  If  you 
talk  out  of  proportion  to  your  relative  circum- 
stances, even  though  it  should  be  to  the  amuse- 
ment or  edification  of  those  who  listen,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  it  will  be  set  down  to  the  score 
of  vanity.  It  were  far  better  to  leave  a  circle 
wishing,  from  what  you  have  actually  said,  that 
you  had  said  more,  than  out  of  patience  with  you 
for  having  talked  so  much. 

It  is  only  an  extension  of  the  thought  to  which 
I  have  just  adverted,  when  I  remark  further,  that 
you  should  beware  Gf  talking  without  reflection, 
or  when  you  have  nothing  to  say.  It  is  far  better 
to  be  silent  than  to  talk  in  this  manner,  or  in  these 
circumstances  ;  for  you  cannot  hope  to  edify  any 
one,  and  you  certainly  expose  yourself.  Let  the 
subject  be  what  it  may,  accustom  yourself  always 
to  reflect  before  you  speak ;  in  other  words,  to 
have  thoughts  before  you  utter  them.  You  can- 
not  look   around    in  society,    without    perceiving 


A     DAUGHTER  125 

that  incautious  speaking  is  one  of  the  most  fruit- 
ful sources  of  mischief.  Whether  you  are  dis- 
cussing a  grave  subject,  or  talking  about  the  most 
familiar  occurrences  of  life,  let  it  be  a  rule  from 
which  you  never  deviate,  to  say  nothing  without 
reflection.  You  may  easily  form  this  habit,  and 
the  advantage  of  it  will  be  incalculable  ;  or  you 
may  perhaps,  with  still  greater  ease,  form  the 
opposite  habit,  and  it  will  not  improbably  subject 
you  to  serious  evils  as  long  as  you  live. 

Take  care  that  you  never  subject  yourself  to 
the  charge  of  egotism.  This  is  apt  to  be  a  conse- 
quence of  excessive  garrulity ;  for  there  are  few 
persons  who  talk  a  great  deal,  that  do  not  find  it 
convenient  to  magnify  their  own  importance. 
And  let  me  say  that  this  is  a  foible  which  is  more 
likely  to  escape  the  observation  of  the  person  who 
is  subject  to  it  than  almost  any  other  ;  and  yet 
there  is  perhaps  no  other  which  by  every  one  else 
is  more  easily  detected  ;  and,  I  may  add,  none 
which  excites  more  universal  disgust.  Guard 
your  lips,  then,  whenever  you  find  it  in  your  heart 
to  make  yourself  the  heroine  of  your  own  story. 

Never  say  any  thing  of  yourself  which  even 
indirectly  involves  commendation,  unless  under 
circumstances  of  very  rare  occurrence.  If  you 
watch  the  operations  of  your  heart,  you  will  pro- 
bably be  surprised  to  find  how  strong  is  the  pro- 


126  LETTERS     TO 

pensity  to  bring  one's  self  into  view,  as  often  and 
to  as  great  advantage  as  possible.  Whenever  you 
can  illustrate  any  subject  on  which  you  may  be 
conversing  by  a  reference  to  the  experience  of 
any  one  else,  it  is  better,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  to 
avail  yourself  of  it,  than  to  refer  even  indirectly 
to  your  own.  I  have  known  some  persons,  who 
have  manifested  a  strange  kind  of  egotism,  in 
speaking  freely  and  unnecessarily  of  their  own 
past  errors  ;  when  it  appeared  to  me  that  genuine 
humility  would  have  led  them  to  silent  communion 
with  their  hearts,  and  penitence  before  God.  You 
may  rest  assured  that  it  is  an  exceedingly  difficult 
thing  to  allude  much  either  to  one's  own  faults  or 
excellencies ;  difficult,  I  mean,  without  leaving  an 
impression  that  it  is  the  offspring  of  a  foolish  self- 
complacency  ;  in  other  words,  without  getting, 
and  deservedly  getting,  the  character  of  an  egotist. 
Avoid  even  the  appearance  of  pedantry.  If  you 
are  conversing  with  persons  of  very  limited  attain- 
ments, you  will  make  yourself  far  more  accepta- 
ble as  well  as  useful  to  them,  by  accommodating 
yourself  to  their  capacities,  than  by  compelling 
them  to  listen  to  what  they  cannot  understand. 
I  do  not  say  that  you  may  not  in  some  instances 
make  them  stare  at  your  supposed  wisdom,  and 
perhaps  they  may  even  quote  you  as  an  oracle  of 
learning  ;  but  it  is  much  more  probable  that  even 


A     DAUGHTER. 


127 


they  will  smile  at  such  an  exhibition  as  a  con- 
temptible weakness.  With  the  intelligent  and 
discerning,  this  effect  certainly  will  be  produced  ; 
and  that  whether  your  pretensions  to  learning  are 
well  founded  or  not :  the  simple  fact  that  you  aim 
to  appear  learned,  that  you  deal  much  in  allusions 
to  the  classics  or  the  various  departments  of  sci- 
ence, with  an  evident  intention  to  display  your 
familiarity  with  them,  will  be  more  intolerable 
than  even  absolute  ignorance.  If  you  are  really 
a  proficient  in  science  or  literature,  you  need  have 
no  apprehensions  that  your  acquisitions  will  not 
be  known  without  your  making  a  formal  procla- 
mation of  them.  If  you  are  only  a  superficial 
student,  and  make  pretensions  to  learning  which 
your  acquirements  do  not  justify,  you  will  inevi- 
tably have  to  encounter  a  mortifying  defeat ;  for 
you  may  set  it  down  that  in  cultivated  society  you 
will  pass  for  nothing  more  than  you  are  really 
worth.  My  advice  to  you  is,  to  acquire  as  much 
useful  information  as  you  can,  and  to  use  it  in 
conversation  where  there  is  manifestly  occasion 
for  it ;  but  in  no  case  whatever  to  volunteer  a 
learned  remark  where  there  is  no  higher  purpose 
to  be  answered  than  mere  personal  display.  And 
never  venture  on  a  subject,  especially  with  an  air 
of  confidence  and  erudition,  upon  which  you  are 
conscious    your   attainments   are   too   shallow   to 


128  LETTERS     TO 

justify  it.  It  is  an  experiment  always  fraught  with 
danger ;  and  many  instances  have  I  known  in 
which  it  has  resulted  in  a  humiliating  exposure 
both  of  ignorance  and  weakness.  You  are  at 
liberty,  indeed,  to  converse  upon  subjects  on 
which  you  are  not  well  informed :  this,  as  I  have 
elsewhere  intimated,  is  one  important  means  of 
increasing  your  information :  but,  in  every  such 
case,  do  not  attempt  to  get  more  credit  for  intelli- 
gence than  you  really  deserve  :  do  not  assume  the 
air  of  a  teacher  when  you  are  conscious  that  the 
attitude  of  a  learner  belongs  to  you.  In  this 
respect,  as  well  as  in  every  other,  honesty  is  the 
safest  and  best  policy. 

Let  me  caution  you  still  further  against  a 
habit  of  light  conversation.  I  have  known  young 
females  with  whom  this  habit  had  become  so  con- 
firmed, that  it  seemed  as  if  they  could  scarcely 
speak  but  to  trifle  ;  and  who  would  even  choose  to 
remain  silent,  rather  than  join  in  conversation  in 
which  their  favorite  passion  could  not  be  in- 
dulged. You  cannot  contract  such  a  habit  but  at 
the  expense  of  forfeiting  the  esteem  of  the  wise 
and  good,  of  sacrificing  true  dignity  of  character, 
and  throwing  yourself  into  a  current  of  tempta- 
tion in  which  there  is  every  probability  that  you 
will  be  irrecoverably  lost.  Scarcely  any  habit 
more  effectually  than  this  imparts  a  disrelish  for 


A     DAUGHTER.  129 

the  society  of  ail  except  triflers,  and  hardens  the 
heart  against  the  influences  of  religion.  I  do  not 
wish  ever  to  see  you  gloomy,  or  austere,  or  spirit- 
less ;  but  as  you  value  all  that  is  most  precious  in 
time  and  eternity,  I  pray  you  never  to  give  your- 
self up  to  a  habit  of  levity.  Avoid  even  the  most 
distant  approach  to  it ;  for  it  is  the  nature  of  every 
habit,  and  especially  of  this,  to  make  an  insidious 
beginning,  and  to  grow  strong  by  indulgence.  If 
you  are  thrown  into  company  in  which  it  is  the 
fashion  to  trifle,  get  out  of  it  as  soon  as  possible ; 
and  while  you  are  in  it,  have  decision  enough  to 
let  it  appear  that  you  are  not  in  your  favorite 
element  ;  and  if  you  should  even  have  so  much  as 
to  express  your  disapprobation,  and  to  administer  a 
gentle  yet  dignified  reproof,  I  venture  to  say,  that 
the  greatest  trifler  in  the  circle  would  respect  you 
the  more  for  it.  There  is  no  apology  to  be  made 
for  such  a  habit  on  the  ground  of  constitution, 
education,  or  any  thing  else  ;  and  if  you  yield  to 
it,  I  must  again  remind  you  that  you  do  it  at  the 
expense  of  character,  usefulness,  happiness,  and 
heaven. 

Be  careful  also  how  you  indulge  in  sarcasm. 
If  you  are  constitutionally  inclined  to  this,  you 
will  find  that  there  is  no  point  in  your  character 
which  needs  to  be  more  faithfully  guarded. 
There  are  some  few  cases  in  which  severe  irony 
9 


130  LETTERS     TO 

may  be  employed  to  advantage  ;  cases  in  which 
vice  and  error  will  shrink  before  it,  when  they  will 
unhesitatingly  confront  every  other  species  of 
opposition.  But  it  too  often  happens  that  those 
who  possess  this  talent  use  it  too  indiscrimi- 
nately ;  and  perhaps  even  more  frequently  to 
confound  modest  and  retiring  virtue,  than  to  abash 
bold  and  insolent  vice.  But  be  assured  that  it  is 
a  contemptible  triumph  that  is  gained,  when,  by 
the  force  of  sarcasm,  the  lips  of  a  deserving  indi- 
vidual are  sealed,  and  the  countenance  crimsoned 
with  blushes.  And  there  are  only  a  few  cases  — 
cases  in  which  the  cast  of  character  is  peculiar 
—  that  will  warrant  the  use  of  this  weapon  against 
vice  itself.  You  may  take  it  for  granted,  in  all 
ordinary  cases  in  which  a  sarcastic  remark  has 
done  its  office,  that  you  have  excited  feelings  of 
no  very  friendly  character  towards  yourself.  You 
may  be  flattered  by  the  compliment  which  you 
imagine  those  around  you  are  paying  to  your  wit, 
but  it  were  more  reasonable  for  you  to  grieve  at 
the  reflection  that  you  have  not  improbably  lost  a 
friend. 

In  connexion  with  sarcasm  as  displayed  towards 
those  with  whom  you  converse,  let  me  say  a  word 
in  respect  to  your  treatment  of  absent  characters. 
Never  volunteer  unnecessarily  in  speaking  ill  of 
any  body.     You  may  indeed  be  placed  in  circum- 


A     DAUGHTE 


131 


stances  in  which  it  may  be  proper  and  even  neces- 
sary that  you  should  express  an  unfavorable  opinion 
of  characters  ;  that  you  should  state  facts  concern- 
ing them  of  the  most  disagreeable  nature.  But 
what  I  object  to  is  that  you  should  do  this  when 
circumstances  do  not  require  it,  and  when  no  good 
will  be  likely  to  result  from  it ;  for  it  at  once  indi- 
cates a  bad  disposition,  and  is  a  means  by  which 
that  disposition  will  gain  strength.  But  in  no  case 
allow  yourself  to  make  any  unfavorable  represen- 
tation of  a  character,  unless  you  have  ample  evi- 
dence that  it  is  accordant  with  truth.  By  neglect- 
ing to  observe  this  direction,  you  may  do  an  injury 
to  an  innocent  person,  which  it  will  afterwards 
never  be  in  your  power  to  retrieve ;  and  withal 
you  may  acquire  for  yourself  the  reputation  of  a 
slanderer.  There  is  an  idle  way  of  discussing 
characters,  in  which  less  is  usually  meant  than 
meets  the  ear,  and  which  often  seems  to  be  re- 
sorted to  merely  for  the  sake  of  filling  up  the  time. 
Remember  that  if  you  allow  yourself  to  join  in 
this  kind  of  conversation,  you  always  do  it  at  the 
hazard  of  making  for  yourself  enemies  ;  for  though 
your  remarks  may  be  made  with  perfectly  harm- 
less intentions,  and  may  convey  no  bad  impres- 
sions to  the  individual  to  whom  they  are  addressed, 
yet  when  they  reach  the  ear  of  the  person  who  is 
the  subject  of  them,  unaccompanied  by  the  man- 


132  LETTERS     TO 

ner  in  which  they  were  uttered,  and  not  improba- 
bly in  an  exaggerated  form,  they  will  almost  of 
course  be  regarded  as  indicating  diminished  friend- 
ship, if  not  decided  hostility.  Above  all,  never 
venture  censorious  remarks  upon  characters  when 
you  are  thrown  among  strangers.  Many  instances 
have  occurred  in  which  an  individual  who  has 
ventured  upon  this  experiment  has  afterwards 
made  the  mortifying  discovery  that  the  person 
who  was  the  subject  of  his  remarks  was  listening 
to  them ;  or  if  not,  that  they  were  heard  by  some 
near  relative  or  friend.  The  only  prudent  course 
in  such  circumstances,  is  to  say  nothing  which 
will  expose  your  own  feelings  or  the  feelings 
of  others  in  view  of  any  disclosure  that  may  be 
made. 

There  is  a  familiar  and  irreverent  use  of  sacred 
things,  against  which  I  wish  especially  to  guard 
you.  For  a  female  to  be  absolutely  profane 
would  be  to  render  herself  at  once  an  outlaw  from 
decent  society  ;  nevertheless  I  have  observed  with 
pain  that  some  young  ladies,  who  would  doubtless 
shrink  from  the  charge  of  profaneness,  allow 
themselves  in  exclamations,  and  in  irreverent  and 
ludicrous  applications  of  scripture,  which  border 
very  closely  upon  it.  Beware  how  you  even  ap- 
proach this  dangerous  ground.  Such  exclama- 
tions as  those  to  which  I  have  referred,  in  which 


A     DAUGHTER.  133 

either  the  awful  name  of  the  Supreme  Being  or 
some  one  of  his  attributes  is  lightly  introduced, 
are  fitted  to  destroy  your  reverence  for  every  thing 
sacred,  and  to  cherish  within  you  a  spirit  of  ab- 
solute impiety.  Never  suffer  any  thing  of  a 
sacred  nature  to  be  on  your^  lips,  without  a  corres- 
ponding sentiment  of  reverence  in  your  heart. 
And  if  those  with  whom  you  are  accustomed  to 
associate  indulge  themselves  in  this  inconsiderate 
habit  of  which  I  have  spoken,  think  it  a  sufficient 
reason  for  declining  their  society ;  for  certain  it  is 
that  you  can  gain  nothing  from  it  to  compensate 
the  loss  which  }t>u  would  be  liable  to  sustain  of 
your  reverence  for  the  character  or  word  of  God. 

I  will  only  detain  you  farther  by  suggesting  a 
caution  to  cherish  a  most  sacred  regard  to  truth. 
It  would  give  me  great  pain  to  suppose  for  a  mo- 
ment that,  at  the  age  to  which  you  have  now 
arrived,  you  should  ever  be  guilty  of  deliberate 
falsehood  ;  but  I  wish  to  put  you  on  your  guard 
against  every  thing  that  has  even  the  semblance 
of  a  disregard  to  strict  veracity.  There  is  a  habit 
which  many  persons  have  of  dealing  artfully  and 
evasively ;  saving  their  consciences  by  some  ex- 
pression which  ma}T  admit  of  double  construction, 
but  which  nevertheless  in  its  obvious  construction 
is  contrary  to  truth.  There  are  others  who  have 
a  habit  of  talking  extravagantly  on  every  subject ; 


134  LETTERS     TO 

with  whom  the  simple  verity  is  too  dry  to  be 
relished ;  who  suffer  their  imaginations  to  supply 
the  defects  of  their  memories  ;  who  in  short  never 
seem  to  breathe  freely  but  in  the  region  of  embel- 
lishment and  exaggeration.  And  I  am  constrained 
to  say  that  much  of  the  civility  of  fashionable  life 
savors  strongly  of  deception.  I  refer  here  not  only 
to  the  habit  which  some  ladies  have  of  sending 
word  to  visitors  that  they  are  not  at  home,  when 
they  are  only  engaged,  but  to  the  painful  regrets 
that  are  often  expressed  at  the  distance  between 
calls;  at  the  unspeakable  joy  which  is  manifested 
on  meeting  a  fashionable  acquaintance  ;  at  the 
earnest  importunity  that  is  exhibited  for  an  early 
visit,  when  the  truth  is  in  each  case  that  the  real 
feeling  is  that  of  absolute  indifference.  Now  I  beg 
you  will  guard  against  duplicity  in  all  its  forms. 
Rely  on  it,  it  is  not  necessary  to  true  politeness  ; 
and  if  it  were,  you  ought  not  as  an  accountable 
and  immortal  creature,  even  to  agitate  the  question 
whether  you  shall  yield  to  it.  There  are  cases,  I 
know,  in  which  the  temptation  to  equivocate  is 
powerful,  in  which  to  speak  the  honest  truth  must 
involve  severe  personal  sacrifices ;  but  in  all  cases 
of  this  kind  the  only  proper  alternative  is,  either 
to  speak  out  your  real  sentiments,  or  to  say  no- 
thing ;  and  you  are  not  even  at  liberty  to  remain 
silent,  when  silence  will  convey  a  wrong  impres- 


A     DAUGHTER.  135 

sion,  and  of  course  is  virtual  falsehood.  You  will 
gain  nothing  if  you  allow  yourself  in  a  habit  of 
exaggeration ;  for  this  feature  in  your  character 
will  soon  be  understood,  and  your  statements  will 
all  be  received  with  a  corresponding  abatement. 
In  a  word,  let  it  be  a  principle  with  you  never  to 
be  violated,  that  in  whatever  circumstances  you 
are  placed,  all  that  you  say  shall  be  characterised 
by  the  simplicity  of  truth.  Study  Mrs.  Opie's  ad- 
mirable "  Illustrations  of  Lying;"  no  other  book, 
perhaps,  except  the  Bible,  is  better  adapted  to  lead 
you  to  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  windings  of 
your  own  heart,  or  to  put  you  on  your  guard 
against  the  beginning  of  this  evil. 

Your  Father. 


LETTER  X. 


AMUSEMENTS. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  There  is  scarcely  any  sub- 
ject on  which  it  is  more  important  that  you  should 
form  correct  notions,  and  in  relation  to  which 
a  mistaken  view  is  of  more  practical  and  danger- 
ous tendency,  than  that  of  amusements.  Many 
a  young  female,  who  might  have  been  an  orna- 
ment to  her  sex,  and  a  blessing  to  the  world,  has, 
by  yielding  to  the  dictates  of  a  wayward  incli- 
nation, and  setting  aside  the  decisions  of  sober 
reason  on  this  subject,  not  only  rendered  herself  of 
no  account  in  society,  but  clouded  all  her  prospects 
both  for  this  world  and  another.  In  contempla- 
ting this  subject,  I  wish  you  to  feel  that  you  are 
standing  by  the  grave  of  female  character  and 
hopes,  and  to  heed  the  monitory  voice  that  issues 
from  it,  charging  you  to  beware  how  you  tread  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  fallen  and  ruined. 

The  grand  reason  why  so  many  females  have 
fallen  victims  to  the  love  of  amusement  is,  that 
they  have  judged  erroneously  of  the  end  which  it 


BETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  137 

is  designed  to  answer.  They  have  taken  up  the 
opinion,  (and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  it  has 
too  often  received  the  sanction  even  of  parents,) 
that  a  portion  especially  of  early  life  was  designed 
to  be  frittered  away  in  idle  and  foolish  indulgences  ; 
that  they  are  at  liberty  during  this  period  to  regard 
the  gratification  of  the  senses  as  an  ultimate  ob- 
ject ;  and  to  think  of  nothing  in  connexion  with 
amusement  beyond  the  mere  momentary  enjoy- 
ment with  which  it  is  connected.  With  this  im- 
pression they  have  asked  no  question  with  so 
much  interest  as  how  they  may  most  effectually  be 
amused  ;  and  this  passion  has  increased  by  indul- 
gence, until  they  have  acquired  an  utter  disrelish 
for  the  sober  concerns  of  life.  Who  would  sup- 
pose that  beings  could  be  employed  in  these  idle 
pursuits,  who  are  destined  to  an  immortal  exist- 
ence, who  are  accountable  for  the  improvement  of 
all  their  time,  and  are  liable  every  hour  to  enter 
on  an  exact  and  eternal  retribution  ? 

The  only  rational  view  of  this  subject  is  that 
which  takes  for  granted  our  obligation  to  use  all 
our  faculties  at  all  times  to  the  best  purpose.  This 
is  a  first  principle  not  only  of  scripture  but  of  rea- 
son; and  it  were  impossible  to  prove  that  we  are 
exempt  from  this  obligation  a  single  moment,  by 
any  argument  which  would  not  at  the  same  time 
prove  that  we  are  alwavs  exempt  from  it ;  in  other 


138  LETTERS     TO 

words,  which  would  not  disprove  human  accounta- 
bleness  and  sweep  away  the  pillars  of  God's  moral 
government.  It  is  a  command,  dictated  by  God's 
own  Spirit,  that  whatever  we  do  we  should  do  all  to 
his  glory;  and  if  there  had  been  any  department  of 
human  action  to  which  this  command  was  not  de- 
signed to  extend,  it  were  impossible  but  that  the  ex- 
ception should  have  been  made.  The  legitimate 
end  of  amusement  therefore  is  not  answered  in  mere 
personal  gratification,  but  in  refreshing  and  invigor- 
ating the  powers  for  the  more  successful  discharge  of 
duty.  The  constitution  of  the  human  mind  is  such, 
that  it  will  not  bear  to  be  intensely  employed  on  the 
same  object  for  a  long  time  without  interruption  : 
the  effect  of  an  attempt  to  keep  it  thus  employed 
would  be  that  far  less  would  be  accomplished  than 
might  be  with  occasional  relaxation;  and  withal, 
the  energies  of  the  mind,  instead  of  being  quicken- 
ed and  improved,  would  gradually  be  diminished. 
Hence  some  amusement  becomes  necessary,  in 
order  to  secure  the  greatest  usefulness. 

In  this  view,  you  will  perceive  not  only  that 
amusement  is  designed  to  prepare  you  for  the  dis- 
charge of  duty,  that  is,  for  an  attention  to  the 
graver  concerns  of  life,  but  that  it  is  itself  an  im- 
portant part  of  duty,  and  like  every  thing  else  in 
which  you  engage,  ought  to  be  subject  to  the  di- 
rection of  conscience.     You  have  no  more  right 


A      DAUGHTER. 


139 


to  forget  your  accountableness  or  to  refuse  to  ac- 
knowledge God  in  selecting  your  amusements,  or 
in  yielding  yourself  to  them,  than  you  have  when 
you  enter  the  closet  or  sanctuary  to  engage  in 
private  or  public  worship. 

You  will  perceive,  moreover,  if  the  preceding 
remarks  are  correct,  that  the  whole  purpose  of 
amusement  may  be  answered  by  mere  change  of 
employment.  It  is  by  no  means  necessary,  as  the 
popular  notion  is,  that  the  change  should  be  from 
an  employment  that  is  useful  to  one  that  is  useless 
or  even  worse  ;  but  the  object  may  be  even  better 
accomplished  by  a  change  that  shall  keep  the 
mind  still  employed  to  advantage.  If  your  ordi- 
nary employment  is  one  that  lays  your  faculties 
under  severe  contribution,  that  to  which  you  re- 
sort for  amusement  ought  undoubtedly  to  require 
but  moderate  mental  exercise  ;  and  in  cases  of 
great  exhaustion  from  intellectual  effort,  it  may  be 
proper  to  give  the  mind  for  a  season  an  entire  dis- 
pensation from  the  labor  of  connected  thought. 
But  in  all  ordinary  cases,  you  will  find  that  in  un- 
bending from  severe  exertion  of  mind,  with  refer- 
ence to  renewing  that  exertion  with  greater  suc- 
cess, you  need  not  yield  to  positive  inaction,  or 
occupy  yourself  with  any  thing  that  is  trifling,  but 
may  still  be  doing  something  for  the  benefit  of 
yourself  or  your  fellow-creatures.     If  you  regulate 


140  LETTERS     TO 

your  amusements  by  a  regard  to  this  principle, 
you  will  find  it  a  most  effectual  means  of  redeem- 
ing time,  and  will  have  the  pleasure  to  reflect  that 
even  your  hours  of  relaxation  are  hours  of  useful- 
ness. 

There  are  several  tests  by  which  you  may 
judge  whether  any  particular  amusement  is  inno- 
cent ;  of  course,  whether  it  is  safe  and  right  for 
you  to  indulge  in  it.  Inquire,  for  instance,  wheth- 
er, before  engaging  in  it,  you  dare  enter  your 
closet,  and  ask  God  to  accompany  it  with  his 
blessing.  Do  not  think  this  a  superstitious  sug- 
gestion. Rely  on  it,  it  is  fully  accordant  with  en- 
lightened reason  and  conscience.  We  have  no 
right  to  use  our  faculties  in  any  way  which  our 
Maker  and  Judge  does  not  approve  ;  and  if  we  are 
conscious  of  using  them  aright,  we  shall  at  once 
feel  our  need  of  his  blessing,  and  be  encouraged  to 
supplicate  it.  I  am  well  aware  that  it  is  a  thought 
which  has  never  entered  the  mind  of  most  young 
persons,  that  God  should  be  acknowledged  in 
their  amusements  ;  and  if  they  have  ever  thought, 
of  attempting  to  approach  this  awful  and  glorious 
Being,  this  has  been  a  subject  on  which  con- 
science 1ms  dictated  petitions  for  forgiveness, 
though  the  idea  of  supplicating  a  blessing  would 
seem  to  them  little  short  of  impiety.  The  reason 
obviously  is  that  the  amusements  in  which  they 


A     DAUGHTER.  141 

indulge,  are  felt  to  be  wrong  :  they  are  not  such 
as  will  abide  the  scrutiny  of  an  enlightened  con- 
science, much  less  the  scrutiny  of  a  holy  God.  If 
you  dare  not  enter  your  closet  and  ask  God  to 
bless  you  in  any  amusement  in  which  you  are 
about  to  engage,  you  may 'safely  take  that  as  a 
testimony  of  conscience  against  it ;  and  if  you  do 
not  retreat,  you  may  make  up  your  mind  to  en- 
counter the  lashes  of  conscience  hereafter,  as 
part  of  your  retribution  for  disobeying  her  sug- 
gestions. 

Equally  certain  is  it  that  it  cannot  be  right  to 
engage  in  any  amusement  which  is  fitted  to  give 
you  a  disrelish  for  serious  reflection.  All  who  ac- 
knowledge the  truth  of  the  Bible,  indeed  all  but 
the  downright  atheist,  are  compelled  to  admit,  that 
the  circumstances  of  our  present  existence  are 
deeply  solemn  ;  and  that  he  who  shuts  his  eyes 
against  them  is  chargeable  with  gross  infatuation. 
We  are  here  passing  the  only  period  of  our  proba- 
tion for  eternity.  The  glories  of  immortal  life  are 
brought  within  our  reach,  and  are  suspended  on 
our  acceptance  of  the  terms  of  the  gospel ;  and  the 
very  first  step  towards  the  acceptance  of  these 
terms,  is  serious  consideration.  Is  it  not  manifest 
then,  that  any  thing  which  excites  a  disrelish  for 
reflection,  and  of  course  puts  at  hazard  the  soul's 
everlasting  interests,  must  be  wrong  ?     If  you  find 


142  LETTERS     TO 

that  such  has  been  the  effect  of  any  amusement  in 
which  you  have  indulged,  let  it  be  a  reason  why 
you  should  instantly  abandon  it :  or  if  you  are 
convinced  that  such  would  be  the  effect  of  any  to 
which  you  are  solicited  or  inclined,  let  it  be  a 
reason  why  you  stand  aloof  from  it,  and  maintain 
your  ground  with  unyielding  firmness. 

It  were  preposterous,  moreover,  to  practise  any 
amusement,  which  you  cannot  think  of  without 
pain  or  remorse,  in  connexion  with  the  prospect 
of  dying.  That  death  is  the  certain  lot  of  all, 
and  of  yourself  in  common  with  others,  is  a  fact 
just  as  well  established  as  the  fact  of  your  exist- 
ence. That  death  itself  is  a  most  serious  event, 
and  that  the  consequences  connected  with  it  are 
momentous  beyond  our  conceptions,  is  no  matter 
of  question  with  any  believer  in  divine  revelation. 
Equally  certain  is  it,  that  the  hour  of  our  depart- 
ure from  this  world  may  be  rendered  the  peaceful 
dawn  of  an  eternal  day,  or  it  may  be  an  hour  of 
darkness,  and  agitation,  and  horror,  which  the 
boldest  imagination  cannot  describe.  Now  I  ask 
again,  is  it  not  more  than  madness  to  engage  in 
any  amusement  which  conscience  tells  you,  will 
not  bear  to  be  reviewed  when  the  current  of  life 
is  ebbing  away  ;  nay,  which  must  inevitably  plant 
a  thorn  in  your  dying  pillow.  Surely  no  person, 
who  acts  under  the  influence  of  reason,  can  object 


A     DAUGHTER.  143 

to  this,  as  a  perfectly  fair  test  by  which  to  decide 
upon  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  any  amusement  ; 
for  no  one  can  deny,  that  it  is  the  dictate  of  true 
wisdom  that  we  should  consider  and  prepare  for 
our  latter  end.  Here  then,  I  pray  you  to  take 
counsel  of  reason,  and  not  suffer  yourself  to  be 
deluded  by  mere  feeling  ;  and  if  you  are  tempted 
to  amuse  yourself  in  any  way  which  you  really 
believe  will  cast  an  additional  shade  upon  the  dark 
valley,  or  the  tendency  of  which  is  to  make  you 
wish  that  death  were  more  distant,  resist  the 
temptation,  let  it  be  at  whatever  expense  it  may. 
There  is  no  worldly  gratification  which  it  were 
not  wise  to  forego,  if  it  be  a  seed  which  will  yield 
a  harvest  of  wretchedness  in  your  last  hour. 

Let  me  add  that  you  cannot  innocently  indulge 
in  any  amusement  which  will  not  fit  you  for  the 
better  discharge  of  the  ordinary  duties  of  life.  If 
this  be  not  the  effect,  the  time  which  is  thus  occu- 
pied is  worse  than  lost ;  for  not  only  is  there  no 
good  accomplished,  but  the  faculties,  by  this 
means,  acquire,  or  are  confirmed  in,  a  wrong 
direction.  And  thus  habits  are  often  formed,  both 
intellectual  and  moral,  which  are  alike  incon- 
sistent with  dignity,  happiness,  and  usefulness. 
But  surely  I  need  not  again  remind  you  that,  in 
respect  to  the  improvement  of  your  time,  and  the 
use  of  your  faculties,  you  are  a  steward  of  God ; 


144  LETTERS     TO 

and  that  you  cannot  be  indifferent  concerning 
either,  but  at  the  expense  of  proving  yourself 
unfaithful,  and  of  incurring  the  Master's  displeas- 
ure. Is  it  not  lamentably  true,  that  a  large  part 
of  the  amusements  that  prevail  in  the  world,  in- 
stead of  invigorating  the  faculties  for  the  more 
faithful  discharge  of  duty,  actually  unfit  the  mind 
for  useful  exertion  on  the  one  hand,  and  create 
a  disrelish  for  it  on  the  other  ?  I  need  not  repeat 
the  caution  that  you  will  have  no  communion  with 
any  of  these  scenes  of  unprofitable  indulgence. 

That  you  may  not  misapprehend  my  meaning, 
I  will  descend  a  little  to  particulars,  and  give  you 
my  opinion,  in  a  few  words,  of  some  of  the  fash- 
ionable amusements  of  the  day. 

I  will  begin  with  parties  of  pleasure.  You 
already  know  that  I  am  in  favor  of  your  cultivat- 
ing the  social  affections.  Instead  of  objecting  to 
your  meeting  occasionally  a  circle  of  friends,  for 
an  agreeable  interchange  of  kind  sentiments,  and 
for  purposes  of  intellectual  and  moral  improve- 
ment, I  would  encourage  such  meetings  with  all 
my  heart ;  and  if  you  choose  to  call  them  parties 
of  pleasure,  you  have  my  consent  for  doing  so. 
But  those  scenes  which  usually  pass  in  the  world 
under  this  name  —  scenes  of  mere  conviviality 
and  trifling  —  in  which  there  is  nothing  to  en- 
lighten the  mind,  or  to  refine  or  elevate  the  affec- 


A     DAUGHTER.  145 

tions,  I  am  constrained  to  regard  as  utterly  unwor- 
thy a  rational  and  accountable  being.  It  is  not  the 
fact  that  the  occasions  to  which  I  refer,  usually 
collect  a  large  number,  that  constitutes  the  ground 
of  my  objection  to  them ;  for  a  large  number  may 
as  well  be  occupied  in  a  profitable  manner  as  a 
small  one ;  —  but  it  is  the  fact  that  the  very  pur- 
pose for  which  they  come  together  is  to  fritter  away 
time  in  idle  and  foolish  conversation.  It  is  this 
circumstance  which  gives  to  the  parties  to  which 
I  refer,  their  distinctive  character  ;  and  whether 
they  consist  of  many  or  few,  their  tendency  is  per- 
haps equally  pernicious.  They  not  only  answer 
no  good  purpose,  but  serve  to  dissipate  the  mind, 
and  throw  open  the  doors  of  the  heart  to  every 
temptation. 

Another  amusement  which  has  been  very  com- 
mon, and  which  still  prevails  to  a  considerable 
extent  is  dancing.  To  this,  considered  as  a  mere 
exercise,  no  objection  certainly  can  be  made;  and 
if  it  were  cultivated  with  exclusive  reference  to 
this,  nothing  worse  could  be  said  of  learning  to 
dance  than  that  it  is  not  the  most  profitable  way  of 
spending  time.  And  I  will  go  further  and  add, 
that  if  a  few  girls  were  disposed  to  stand  up  to- 
gether for  a  half  hour,  and  dance  for  recreation,  I 
cannot  conceive  that  there  could  be  an}^  immorali- 
ty in  it.  But  all  this,  you  are  perfectly  aware,  is 
'10 


146  LETTERS     TO 

very  remote  from  the  amusement  as  it  actually  ex- 
ists. Every  one  knows  that  it  brings  the  sexes  to- 
gether in  circumstances,  to  say  the  least,  not  the 
most  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  female  deli- 
cacy ;  that  the  mind  is  usually  engrossed  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  in  preparation  for  it ;  that,  for  the 
most  part,  it  occupies  hours  which  the  Creator  de- 
signed should  be  given  to  repose  ;  that  it  is  fitted 
to  cherish  a  spirit  of  vanity,  and  work  up  the  mind 
to  a  feverish  and  useless  excitement ;  and  that  it 
is  followed  by  a  state,  both  of  mind  and  body, 
which  for  a  time  at  least,  forbids  any  thing  like 
useful  exertion.  I  am  confident  that  I  might  ap- 
peal to  any  young  female  who  is  accustomed  to 
dance  in  balls  and  assemblies,  and  if  she  were 
honest,  she  would  confirm,  from  her  own  experi- 
ence, all  that  I  have  said.  I  have  been  struck 
with  the  fact  that  in  every  instance  in  which  I 
have  ever  heard  a  young  female,  under  serious 
impressions,  speak  of  that  part  of  her  life  which 
she  has  devoted  to  this  amusement,  she  has  said 
unhesitatingly,  that,  more  than  any  thing  else,  it 
served  to  confirm  her  in  a  habit  of  carelessness, 
and  to  give  her  an  aversion  to  the  concerns  of 
religion.  Such  testimony  rendered  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, ought  surely  to  be  regarded  as  deci- 
sive. 

The  only  other  amusement  in  relation  to  which 


A     DAUGHTER.  147 

I  shall  at  present  offer  an  opinion,  is  the  theatre. 
The  great  argument  which  is  urged  in  favor  of 
this  is,  that  it  is  a  school  in  which  you  may  study 
to  advantage  the  human  character  ;  inasmuch  as 
the  various  operations  of  the  heart,  under  diffe- 
rent circumstances,  are  here  successfully  exhibited. 
This  argument  is  worth  nothing;  for  it  were 
better  to  study  human  nature,  as  it  is  acted  out  in 
the  every  day  realities  of  life  around  us,  than  as  it 
appears  in  the  high  wrought  and  overstrained 
representations  of  the  stage  ;  just  as  it  would  be 
desirable  to  contemplate  any  object  of  interest 
rather  than  a  picture  of  it,  even  though  it  might 
be  drawn  by  the  most  skilful  artist.  And  as  for 
the  objections  to  this  amusement,  they  are  so  ob- 
vious that  I  scarcely  need  allude  to  them.  The 
vulgarity,  the  licentiousness,  the  impiety  connected 
with  it,  are  proverbial ;  and  if  the  fact  did  not 
stare  us  in  the  face,  we  should  say  that  it  was 
impossible  that  ladies  professing  the  utmost  deli- 
cacy, and  who,  in  private,  would  be  offended  by 
an  indecent  allusion,  will  nevertheless  deliberately 
and  habitually  expose  themselves  to  all  the  pro- 
faneness  and  ribaldry  of  the  stage.  And  what 
renders  this  still  more  surprising  is,  that  in  being 
present  on  these  occasions,  they  consent  to  mingle 
with  the  most  profligate  part  of  the  community ; 
with  persons  who  are  at  home  only  in  the  atmos- 


148  LETTERS     TO 

phere  of  moral  corruption,  and  whom  common  de- 
cency cannot  behold  without  a  blush.  I  say  this 
is  a  fact  in  the  history  of  your  sex  for  which  I  own 
myself  utterly  unable  to  account ;  but  I  earnestly 
hope  that  I  may  never  be  compelled  to  contemplate 
an  example  of  it  in  my  own  child.  Should  this  be 
the  case,  I  should  consider  my  fond  hopes  in  re- 
spect to  you  as  blasted,  and  should  shed  tears  of 
deeper  anguish  than  if  I  had  consigned  you  to  an 
early  grave. 

If  the  thought  should  occur  to  you  that  I  am 
abridging  your  liberty  too  far,  by  depriving  you 
of  amusements  which  are  regarded  by  many  as  in- 
nocent, let  me  entreat  you  before  you  indulge  such 
a  reflection,  to  pause  and  refer  the  several  species 
of  amusement  of  which  I  have  spoken,  to  the  tests 
which  I  am  sure  your  reason  and  conscience  have 
already  approved.  Upon  which  of  them,  let  me 
ask,  could  you,  in  your  closet,  and  upon  your  knees, 
humbly  invoke  the  blessing  of  God?  Which  of 
them  could  you  indulge,  and  not  feel  an  increased 
aversion  to  the  serious  concerns  of  religion  ;  espe- 
cially to  the  duty  of  self-examination,  and  commu- 
nion with  God  ?  In  which  of  them  should  you  be 
willing  to  engage,  if  you  were  to  be  assured  by  a 
messenger  from  the  invisible  world,  that  you  were 
spending  the  last  month  or  the  last  week  of  your 
probation.     In  relation  to  which  of  them  can  you 


A     DAUGHTER.  149 

say,  in  the  presence  of  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  that 
it  would  serve  to  prepare  you  the  better  for  the  va- 
rious personal  and  relative  duties  of  life?  I  am 
sure  that  I  need  only  propose  these  interrogato- 
ries to  your  conscience,  to  satisfy  you  that  there  is 
no  superstition  in  the  advice  which  I  have  given 
you  in  respect  to  these  several  amusements. 

But  I  know  you  will  ask,  if  the  fashionable 
amusements  of  the  day  are  proscribed,  what  are 
those  in  which  you  may  safely  and  innocently  in- 
dulge. I  answer  in  general  by  repeating  what  I 
have  already  said,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  em- 
ployment, different  from  your  ordinary  one,  which 
requires  comparatively  little  mental  effort,  in  which 
you  may  not  find  legitimate  recreatio  1.  You  may 
amuse  yourself  by  various  kinds  of  reading,  which 
at  the  same  time  will  exert  a  favorable  influence 
on  your  understanding  and  heart.  You  may  amuse 
yourself  by  the  study  of  natural  science ;  espe- 
cially by  arranging  the  flowers  of  the  field,  and 
calling  them  by  their  names  ;  or  by  carrying  your 
curious  researches  into  the  mineral  kingdom,  and 
decyphering  the  evidences  of  the  Creator's  handy 
work  in  the  mountain  rock,  and  the  insignificant 
pebble,  and  every  degree  of  mineral  existence  be- 
tween them.  You  may  amuse  yourself  by  cheer- 
ful and  yet  useful  conversation  with  some  en- 
tertaining friend,   or  even  by  walking  abroad  in 


150  LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER. 

solitude,  and  breathing  the  fresh  air,  and  looking 
at  the  moon  and  the  stars  as  they  shine  forth  in  si- 
lent grandeur  on  the  face  of  the  sky,  or  in  contem- 
plating the  bright  verdure  that  covers  the  earth  in 
spring,  or  in  listening  to  the  sound  of  a  distant 
brook,  as  it  rushes  down  a  steep  mountain,  and 
buries  itself  in  a  deep  forest.  The  contemplation 
of  these  various  objects,  and  of  all  the  variegated 
scenery  of  nature,  opens  a  most  legitimate  field  for 
amusement,  while  it  is  fitted  also  to  enlarge  our 
conceptions  of  the  Creator's  works,  and  to  foster  a 
spirit  of  elevated  devotion  and  rational  piety. 

I  am  Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER    XL 

INTERCOURSE    WITH    THE    WORLD. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  In  several  of  the  preceding 
letters  I  have  taken  for  granted  that  you  are  to 
mingle,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  in  society. 
It  is  equally  essential  to  your  respectability  and 
usefulness,  that  }t>u  should  not  live  the  life  of  a 
recluse.  The  constitution  of  your  nature,  and  the 
circumstances  of  your  condition  clearly  indicate 
that  you  were  made  to  be  social.  As  it  is  a  sub- 
ject, however,  in  relation  to  which  there  is  a  strong 
tendency  to  extremes,  and  on  which  you  will  be 
in  great  danger  of  being  misled,  I  shall  suggest  a 
few  thoughts  in  the  present  letter,  which  may 
serve  to  aid  in  forming  your  opinions  and  direct- 
ing your  conduct. 

I  begin  my  advice  to  you  on  this  subject  by  a 
caution  that  you  should  not  make  your  entrance 
into  society  at  too  early  a  period.  It  too  often 
happens  that  girls,  long  before  they  have  complet- 
ed their  education,  and  even  at  a  comparatively 
early  stage  of  it,  have  contracted  a  strong  relish 


152  LETTERS     TO 

for  being  in  the  world  ;  and  unless  prevented  by 
the  influence  of  parents  or  instructors,  they  are 
found  thus  prematurely  in  the  gayest  circles  of 
fashion.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  that  at  best, 
a  divided  attention  is  rendered  to  their  studies  ; 
that  their  opportunities  for  intellectual  improve- 
ment are  enjoyed  to  little  purpose  ;  and  that  the 
period  in  which  should  be  laid  the  foundation  of 
a  solid  and  useful  character,  is  perverted  to  the 
formation  of  a  habit  of  mental  inaction,  and  not 
improbably  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  intolerable  vanity. 

Now  I  do  not  insist  that  you  should  actually 
decline  all  society  up  to  the  time  of  completing 
your  education ;  but  I  wish  that  your  visiting, 
previous  to  that  period,  should  be,  for  the  most 
part,  of  an  informal  character ;  and  that  you 
should  not  generally  consider  yourself  at  liberty 
to  accept  invitations,  even  if  you  should  receive 
them,  to  mingle  in  set  circles.  This  accidental 
intercourse  of  which  I  have  spoken,  is  all  that 
will  be  necessary  during  the  period  of  your  educa- 
tion, to  aid  you  in  the  formation  of  your  manners ; 
and  any  thing  beyond  it  will  almost  inevitably 
interfere  with  your  intellectual  improvement,  and 
of  course  detract  from  your  ultimate  standing  in 
society. 

Let  me  assure  you  too  that  you  will  be  far  less 
acceptable  in  society,  if  you    make  your  appear- 


A     DAUGHTER. 


153 


ance  prematurely,  than  if  you  wait  till  a  proper 
period.  The  common  sense  of  the  world  is  quick 
to  discern  any  impropriety  on  this  subject  ;  and  ii 
while  you  are  yet  a  child,  you  are  seen  among 
those  of  mature  age,  virtually  claiming  to  be  as 
old  as  they,  you  can  expect  nothing  else  but  that 
you  will  beset  down  as  deficient  either  in  modesty 
or  good  sense.  Better  for  your  reputation  that 
you  should  come  too  late  into  society  than  too 
early ;  for  though  in  the  one  case  you  might  lose 
•something  in  point  of  manners,  yet  in  the  other 
you  would  lose  more,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
world,  on  the  score  of  delicacy  and  correct  judg- 
ment. 

It  is  not  more  important  that  you  should  avoid 
going  into  society  too  early,  than  it  is,  that  when 
you  do  enter  it,  you  should  avoid  mingling  in  it 
too  much.  One  bad  effect  of  this  would  be,  that 
it  would  leave  you  with  too  little  time  for  the  dis- 
charge of  your  private  and  domestic  duties.  The 
culture  of  your  mind  and  heart,  in  connexion  with 
the  ordinary  cares  of  domestic  life,  requires  that 
a  large  part  of  your  time  should  be  spent  at  home ; 
and  you  cannot  without  great  injustice  to  yourself, 
and  those  with  whom  you  are  connected,  neglect 
these  more  private  duties,  for  the  sake  of  being 
always  in  the  bustle  of  the  world.  It  is  a  rare 
thins:  that  you  will  find  a  lady  who  devotes  an  un- 


1-54  LETTERS     TO 

due  proportion  of  her  time  to  visiting,  but  that  if 
yon  follow  her  into  the  domestic  circle,  to  the 
chamber  and  the  fireside,  you  will  find  that  she 
evinces  a  proportional  neglect  of  some  of  the  du- 
ties belonging  to  the  station  she  occupies.  She 
is  either  neglecting  to  cultivate  her  understand- 
ing, or  neglecting  to  keep  her  heart,  or  neglecting 
to  use  the  means  which  Providence  has  put 
into  her  hands  for  the  intellectual  and  moral  im- 
provement of  those  with  whom  she  is  immediately 
connected. 

Recollect  also  that  the  error  against  which  I  am 
endeavoring  to  put  you  on  your  guard,  would  not 
only  prevent  your  attention  to  more  important 
duties,  by  occupying  the  time  which  should  be  al- 
lotted to  them,  but  it  would  serve  actually  to  give 
you  a  distaste  for  those  duties.  Allow  yourself  in 
a  constant  round  of  company,  even  for  a  short 
period,  and  it  will  be  strange  indeed,  if  you  do  not 
begin  to  feel  that  company  is  your  only  element ; 
if  you  do  not,  in  a  great  degree,  lose  your  relish 
for  the  pleasures  of  the  domestic  fireside ;  if  you 
do  not  find  yourself  complaining  of  ennui,  when 
you  happen  for  a  season  to  be  providentially  shut 
up  at  home.  I  need  not  stop  to  show  how  entire- 
ly such  a  habit  of  feeling  must  disqualify  a  female 
for  the  most  important  relations  she  can  ever 
sustain. 


A     DAUGHTER.  15-5 

^Moreover,  an  extravagant  fondness  for  society, 
and  an  excessive  indulgence  of  this  inclination, 
are  almost  sure  to  create  a  habit  of  dissipation, 
both  as  it  respects  the  intellect  and  the  feelings. 
The  mind,  by  being  constantly  conversant  with 
the  ever  varying  scenes  of  social  life,  loses,  in  a 
great  degree,  the  command  of  its  own  powers  ; 
and  the  attempt  to  concentrate  them  on  any  partic- 
ular subject,  were  scarcely  more  likely  to  succeed 
than  would  be  an  attempt  to  collect  every  mote 
that  was  floating  in  the  surrounding  atmosphere, 
while  the  atmosphere  was  agitated  by  a  whirl- 
wind. The  moral  feelings  too  are  subject  to  a 
similar  influence  :  for  not  only  is  there  usually  an 
entire  absence  of  self  communion,  and  all  that 
secret  discipline  of  the  affections,  which  is  essen- 
tial to  the  right  keeping  of  the  heart,  but  too  often 
there  are  the  levities  of  the  world,  scenes  from 
which  there  is  a  studied  exclusion  of  religion,  and 
even  a  designed  introduction  of  much  that  is  fitted 
to  bring  religion  into  contempt.  I  do  not  say  that 
this  evil,  in  its  whole  extent,  is  commonly  found 
in  any  of  the  walks  of  decent  society ;  but  I  do 
say  that  it  sometimes  exists  in  the  frightful  dimen- 
sions which  I  have  attributed  to  it;  and  that  it 
commonly  exists  in  so  great  a  degree  as  to  render 
an  excessive  intercourse  with  the  world  a  fruitful 
source  of  mischief. 


156  LETTERS     TO 

You  will  anticipate  me  when  I  say,  in  this  con- 
nexion, that  it  becomes  you  to  use  the  utmost 
caution  in  selecting  the  circle  with  which  you  are 
to  associate.  I  hardly  need  admonish  you  to  set 
it  down  as  a  fixed  purpose  that  you  will  never,  in- 
tentionally, be  found  in  any  circle  in  which  there 
is  any  thing  to  encourage  immorality,  or  any  lack 
of  reverence  for  the  sacred  principles  and  precepts 
of  religion.  I  would  have  you,  moreover,  beware 
of  mingling  in  the  gay  world  ;  in  scenes  which 
are  designed  to  produce  an  unnatural  and  fever- 
ish excitement  of  the  spirits,  which  are  fraught 
with  no  intellectual  or  moral  advantage,  and  in 
which  the  introduction  of  grave  or  useful  dis- 
course would  be  the  signal  for  disquietude  or  dis- 
gust. 1  do  not,  by  any  means,  insist  that  your 
associates  should  ail  be  from  the  number  of  those 
who  are  professedly  or  actualty  pious  ;  nor  do  I 
object  at  all  to  your  intercourse  with  them  being 
of  a  cheerful,  and  sometimes,  if  you  please,  an 
amusing  character ;  but  I  do  insist  that  they 
should  be  persons  of  correct  moral  views  and 
habits,  and  that  your  associating  with  them  should 
be  for  some  higher  purpose  than  merely  to  kill 
time,  or  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  trifling.  It  were 
desirable  too,  as  I  have  had  occasion  elsewhere 
to  remark  concerning  your  particular  friends, 
that  the  circle  with  which  you  chiefly  associate, 


A     DAUGHTER.  157 

should  possess  a  good  degree  of  intelligence ; 
that  thus  your  social  intercourse  may  be  instru- 
mental of  improving  not  only  your  heart  but 
your  understanding.  If  you  take  due  precautions 
on  this  subject,  the  time  that  you  pass  in  society, 
instead  of  being  lost,  may  subserve  in  a  high 
degree,  your  most  important  interests ;  while 
the  neglect  of  such  precautions  will  render  the 
same  hours  a  mere  blank  in  the  period  of  your 
probation. 

It  is  natural  and  proper  that  those  with  whom 
you  chiefly  mingle  should  be  from  the  same  walks 
of  life  with  yourself.  You  may,  however,  some- 
times providentially  be  thrown  among  those,  the 
circumstances  of  whose  birth  and  education  have 
given  them  a  rank  quite  superior  to  any  which 
you  can  claim  ;  and  as  the  case  may  be,  persons 
of  this  character  may  proffer  3-011  their  confidence 
and  friendship.  In  all  cases  of  this  kind,  never 
suffer  yourself  to  be  deluded  by  any  thing  that  is 
connected  with  the  pride  or  circumstance  of  life  ; 
and  do  not  think  it  a  privilege  to  mingle  in  soci- 
ety of  the  most  elevated  worldly  rank,  provided 
there  be  any  thing  in  it  to  put  in  jeopardy  your 
moral  principles  and  feelings.  And  let  me  say  too, 
that,  though  you  may  very  properly  accept  a  fair 
and  honorable  introduction  into  any  circle,  no 
matter   how  elevated,   yet  you  ought  never,  by  a 


158  LETTERS     TO 

single  action,  or  word,  or  look,  to  signify  a  wish 
for  any  such  distinction.  It  would  indicate  a 
species  of  ambition  certainly  not  the  most  honora- 
ble, and  if  you  should  accomplish  }^our  object,  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  you  would  meet  the  re- 
ception which  is  due  only  to  an  intruder. 

You  would  do  injustice  to  yourself,  and  be 
wanting  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty,  if  you 
should  not  occasionally,  and  even  frequently,  min- 
gle in  the  lower  classes  of  society.  Not  that  I 
would  be  an  advocate  for  confounding  or  annihila- 
ting those  distinctions  which  Providence  has 
manifestly  ordained ;  nor  would  I  have  you  in 
your  intercourse  with  those  in  the  humble  walks 
of  life,  lose  sight  of  the  mutual  relations  which 
you  and  they  sustain  to  each  other.  But.  I 
would  have  you  go  among  them  with  the  benign 
aspect  of  friendship  ;  and  I  would  have  you  make 
them  feel  that  you  recognise  them  as  fellow  crea- 
tures, placed  in  many  respects  on  the  same  level 
with  yourself;  and  I  would  have  you  leave  an  im- 
pression upon  their  minds  that  the  adventitious 
distinctions  of  life  are  really  of  little  moment 
compared  with  those  points  in  relation  to  which 
all  stand  upon  an  equality.  The  condescending 
yet  dignified  familiarity  which  this  species  of  in- 
tercourse would  discover,  would  do  more  than 
you  can  easily  imagine,  to  render  the  poor  con- 


A      DAUGHTER.  159 

tented  and  cheerful,  and  to  secure  for  yourself 
their  gratitude  and  confidence.  And  let  me  say 
too,  that  its  influence  upon  your  own  heart  would 
be  most  salutary;  that  it  Would  serve  to  refine 
and  elevate  your  social  affections,  and  confer  dig- 
nity on  your  whole  character. 

There  is  one  more  point  involved  in  the  general 
subject  of  this  letter  which  is  too  important  to  be 
omitted  —  I  refer  to  the  deportment  which  it  be- 
comes you  to  maintain  towards  the  other  sex. 
The  importance  of  this,  both  as  it  respects  your- 
self and  others,  you  can  scarcely  estimate  too 
highly.  On  the  one  hand,  it  has  much  to  do  in 
forming  your  own  character  ;  and  I  need  not  say 
that  any  lack  of  prudence  in  this  respect,  even  for 
a  single  hour,  may  expose  you  to  evils  which  no 
subsequent  caution  could  enable  you  effectually 
to  repair.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conduct  of 
every  female  who  is  of  the  least  consideration, 
may  be  expected  to  exert  an  influence  on  the 
character  of  every  gentleman  with  whom  she 
associates  ;  and  that  influence  will  be  for  good  or 
evil,  as  she  exhibits,  or  fails  to  exhibit,  a  deport- 
ment that  becomes  her.  Indeed,  so  commanding 
is  this  influence,  that  it  is  safe  to  calculate  upon 
the  character  of  any  communit}^,  from  knowing 
the  prevailing  standard  of  female  character  ;  and 
that  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  an  exaggerated 


160  LETTERS     TO 

maxim,    which    declares  that  "  women    rule    the 
world." 

Let  me  counsel  you  then  never  to  utter  an  ex- 
pression, or  do  an  act,  that  even  looks  like  solici- 
ting any  gentleman's  attention.  Remember  that 
every  expression  of  civility,  to  be  of  any  value, 
must  be  perfectly  voluntary ;  and  any  wish  on 
your  part,  whether  directly  or  indirectly  expressed, 
to  make  yourself  a  favorite,  will  be  certain  to 
awaken  the  disgust  of  all  who  know  it.  i  would 
not  recommend  to  you  any  thing  like  a  prudish 
or  affected  reserve  ;  but  even  this  were  not  so  un- 
fortunate an  extreme,  as  an  excessive  forwardness. 
While  you  modestly  accept  any  attentions  which 
propriety  warrants,  let  there  be  no  attempt  at  art- 
ful insinuation  on  the  one  hand,  or  at  taking 
a  man's  heart  by  storm  on  the  other. 

Be  not  ambitious  to  be  considered  a  belle.  In- 
deed :  had  rather  you  would  be  almost  any  thing 
else  that  does  not  involve  gross  moral  obliquity 
than  this.  It  is  the  fate  of  most  belles  that  they 
become  foolishly  vain,  think  of  nothing,  and  care 
for  nothing,  beyond  personal  display,  and  not  un- 
frequently  sacrifice  themselves  in  a  mad  bargain, 
which  involves  their  destinies  for  life.  The  more 
of  solid  and  enduring  esteem  you  enjoy,  the  better ; 
and  you  ought  to  gain  whatever  of  this  you  can 
by  honorable  means  ;  but  to  be  admired,  and   ca~ 


A    DAUGHTER.  161 

ressed  and  flattered,  for  mere  accidental  qualities, 
which  involve  nothing  of  intellectual  or  moral 
worth,  ought  to  render  any  girl,  who  is  the  subject 
of  it,  an  object  of  pity.  You  are  at  liberty  to  de- 
sire the  good  opinion  of  every  gentleman  of  your 
acquaintance  ;  but  it  would  be  worse  than  folly  in 
you  to  be  ambitious  of  a  blind  admiration. 

I  will  only  add,  that  you  ought  to  be  on  your 
guard  against  the  influence  of  flattery.  Rely  on 
it,  the  man  who  flatters  you,  whatever  he  may 
profess,  is  not  your  friend.  It  were  a  much  kinder 
office,  and  a  real  mark  of  friendship,  to  admonish 
you  tenderly  yet  honestly,  of  your  faults.  If  you 
yield  a  little  to  flattery,  you  have  placed  yourself 
on  dangerous  ground  ;  if  you  continue  to  yield, 
you  are  not  improbably  undone. 

Adieu  for  the  present. 

Your  Devoted  Father. 


11 


LETTER    XII. 

MARRIAGE. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  The  event  of  marriage 
marks  an  important  era  in  the  life  of  a  young 
female.  It  introduces  her  to  some  new  and  most 
interesting  relations.  It  devolves  upon  her  a  set 
of  cares,  and  duties,  and  responsibilities,  to  which 
she  has  hitherto  been  unaccustomed.  It  usually 
lays  the  foundation  for  increased  happiness,  or  for 
bitter,  and  enduring,  and  unavailing  regrets. 

I  begin  my  advice  to  you  on  this  subject,  by 
suggesting  a  caution  against  forming  this  connex- 
ion prematurely.  There  is  scarcely  any  thing 
that  indicates  a  greater  lack  of  discretion,  than  for 
a  young  girl,  at  a  time  when  she  ought  to  be  giv- 
ing her  thoughts  to  her  books,  and  thus  laying  the 
foundation  for  respectability  and  usefulness,  to  be 
giving  her  heart  to  some  admirer,  and  entering 
into  an  arrangement  for  speedily  giving  him  her 
hand.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  that  she  is  only 
imperfectly  educated,  and  not  unfrequently,  is  sub- 
jected through  life,  by  her  deficiencies,  to  serious 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  163 

inconvenience  and  mortification.  She  enters  the 
conjugal  state  miserably  qualified  to  sustain  its 
responsibilities ;  and  not  improbably  acquires  a 
cast  of  character  in  that  relation,  which,  unfortu- 
nately, is  too  enduring,  and  which  is  alike  un- 
favorable to  her  own  enjoyment,  and  that  of  those 
with  whom  she  is  immediately  connected. 

I  advise  you,  therefore,  as  you  value  your  pros- 
pects of  happiness  for  life,  that  you  leave  all 
matrimonial  arrangements  to  a  period  subsequent 
to  the  completion  of  your  education.  Even  if 
proposals  of  marriage  should  be  made  to  you,  and 
of  an  eligible  kind,  previous  to  that  time,  it  must 
be  an  extraordinary  case  indeed  in  which  you 
would  be  warranted  to  accept  them.  The  very 
fact  of  your  forming  such  an  engagement,  and 
especially  of  your  suffering  it  to  arrest  your  edu- 
cation, would  be  set  down  to  your  disadvantage. 
It  would  be  regarded  as  indicating  at  least  an 
unfortunate  weakness  in  your  character,  which 
would  be  no  favorable  prognostic  of  a  solid  and 
enduring  reputation. 

Another  evil  which  you  should  avoid,  in  con- 
nexion with  this  subject,  is  that  of  forming  this 
relation,  or  pledging  yourself  to  it,  without  due 
deliberation.  Every  one  knows  that  there  is  no 
department  of  human  experience  which  is  so 
fruitful  in  wonderful  occurrences  as  this  ;  and  one 


164  LETTERS     TO 

of  the  most  singular  of  them  all  is  the  fact,  that 
many  a  young  lady  disposes  of  herself  for  life,  to 
a  man  with  whom  her  acquaintance  has  been 
limited  to  a  few  days,  or  even  a  few  hours.  I 
admit  that  there  may  be  solitary  cases  of  this  kind 
in  whi;h  the  result  is  favorable  ;  but  no  female, 
who  makes  the  rash  experiment,  has  a  right  to 
calculate,  either  from  the  analogy  of  experience 
or  the  nature  of  the  case,  upon  any  thing  else  than 
that  the  result  will  be  most  disastrous.  If  there 
be  one  instance  in  which  there  has  proved  to  be  a 
congeniality  of  thought  and  feeling  favorable  to 
domestic  happiness,  there  are  many  in  which  the 
most  opposite  tempers  and  habits  have  been 
brought  into  an  unnatural  union,  and  the  gravr3 
of  conjugal  happiness  has  opened  beneath  the 
very  altar  at  which  the  conjugal  union  was  con- 
summated. 

I  would  have  you  then  on  your  guard  against 
taking  a  rash  step  in  relation  to  this  important 
matter.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  decision  which 
you  form  on  this  subject  is  to  affect  vitally  your 
interests  for  life  ;  and  not  only  yours  but  at  least 
those  of  one  other  individual.  The  consequences 
of  an  erroneous  decision  you  will  not  be  able  to 
avoid  :  they  will  meet  you,  and  follow  you,  and 
attend  you,  through  the  whole  of  the  rugged  path 
which  conducts  you  to  the  grave. 


A     DAUGHTER.  165 

Another  point  of  great  importance,  connected 
with  this  subject,  is  the  character  of  the  man  with 
whom  you  are  to  be  united.  There  are  some 
qualities  which  may  be  desirable  enough,  but  are 
not  indispensable  :  there  are  others  which  should 
be  regarded  as  absolutely  requisite,  and  the  oppo- 
sites  of  which  as  absolutely  disqualifying  for  this 
connexion. 

It  may  be  a  pleasant  circumstance,  though  it 
certainly  ought  not  to  be  considered  indispensable, 
that  the  individual  with  whom  you  are  to  be  con- 
nected should  belong  to  an  influential  family. 
This  might  secure  to  you  a  more  valuable  circle 
of  acquaintance,  and  actually  briftg  within  your 
reach  more  extended  means,  both  of  improvement 
and  of  usefulness,  than  you  could  reasonably 
expect  under  different  circumstances.  It  is  an  im- 
portant consideration  that  in  marriage  the  wife 
rises  or  sinks  to  the  level  of  the  husband  ;  and  this 
is  a  reason  why  at  least  a  respectable  circle  of  con- 
nexions on  his  side,  is  with  her  a  just  desidera- 
tum ;  for  if  there  be  any  blot  on  the  character  of 
his  family  which  even  remotely  extends  to  him, 
as  soon  as  her  destinies  are  united  with  his,  she 
comes  in,  almost  of  course,  for  her  share  of  the 
odium  ;  at  least  it  has  an  influence  in  determining 
the  rank  she  is  to  hold  in  societj'.  There  are  cases, 
indeed,  in  which  an  extraordinary  degree  of  per- 


166  LETTERS     TO 

sonal  merit  completely  redeems  the  character  of 
an  individual  from  the  deepest  family  disgrace , 
and  in  such  cases  a  lady  would  have  nothing  to 
fear  from  public  opinion  in  giving  her  hand  in 
marriage:  but  in  any  other  circumstances  it  were 
certainly  desirable  that  she  should  not  throw  her- 
self into  a  circle  of  connexions  of  a  rank  greatly 
inferior  to  those  with  whom  she  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  mingle.  If  Providence  should  place  you 
by  marriage  in  a  more  elevated  condition  than 
that  to  which  you  hive  been  accustomed,  you  may 
regard  it  as  a  favor  that  demands  your  gratitude, 
and  as  a  means  put  into  your  hands  for  getting 
and  doing  good.  But  I  repeat,  never  consider  this 
indispensable.  Be  satisfied  if  the  new  circle  of 
connexions  hold  a  fair  and  reputable  standing. 

I  regard  fortune,  as  it  stands  related  to  the  mar- 
riage of  a  young  lady,  in  nearly  the  same  light  as 
family.  Great  riches  are  desirable  only  as  a 
means  of  doing  good  :  as  a  means  of  enjoyment 
independently  of  the  opportunity  they  furnish  for 
the  exercise  of  a  benevolent  spirit,  they  are  really 
worth  very  little  ;  and  are  in  no  respect  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  a  fair  competence.  If  I  have  any  wish 
that  you  should  be  rich  it  is  not  that  I  may  see 
you  in  circumstances  of  splendor,  but  that  I  may 
see  you  setting  a  noble  example  of  benevolence  ; 
not  that  you  may  outshine  those  around  you  in  the 


A     DAUGHTER.  167 

magnificence  of  your  dwelling,  or  the  costliness 
of  your  furniture  or  equipage,  but  that  you  may 
deservedly  bear  the  palm  in  doing  good  to  the 
wretched  and  perishing.  But  when  I  remember 
how  often  riches  become  a  snare  to  their  possess- 
ors, and  how  many  females  have  been  ruined  by  a 
sudden  elevation  to  a  fortune,  I  cannot  say  that  I 
have  a  wish  that  you  should  ever  encounter  the 
temptations  incident  to  that  condition.  It  is  cer- 
tainly desirable  that  there  should  be  a  competence 
on  one  side  or  the  other ;  so  much  as  to  furnish 
adequate  means,  in  connexion  with  the  avails  of 
some  honest  and  honorable  calling,  for  the  support 
of  a  family  ;  but  within  this  limit  any  lady  may 
reasonably  circumscribe  her  wishes. 

Do  not  marry  a  fop.  There  is  in  such  a  cha- 
racter nothing  of  true  dignity;  nothing  that  com- 
mands respect,  or  ensures  even  a  decent  standing 
in  the  community.  There  is  a  mark  upon  him, 
an  affected  elegance  of  manner,  a  studied  particu- 
larity of  dress,  and  usually  a  singular  inanity  of 
mind,  by  which  he  is  known  in  every  circle  in 
which  he  moves.  His  very  attitude  and  gait  tell 
the  stranger  who  he  is,  though  he  only  passes  him 
silently  in  the  street.  To  unite  your  destiny  with 
such  a  man,  I  hardly  need  say,  would  be  to  im- 
press the  seal  of  disgrace  upon  your  character,  and 
the  seal  of  wretchedness  upon  your  doom. 


168  LETTERS     TO 

Do  not  marry  a  spendthrift.  No,  not  if  he  have 
ever  so  extensive  a  fortune  ;  for  no  degree  of 
wealth  can  secure  such  a  man  from  the  degrada- 
tion of  poverty.  I  have  in  my  eye  at  this  moment 
an  accomplished  female*,  (and  it  were  easy  to 
adduce  a  thousand  similar  cases,)  who  married  a 
man  of  vast  wealth,  but  of  prodigal  habits  ;  and 
years  have  passed  away  since  that  immense  for- 
tune has  gone  to  the  winds ;  and  the  last  remains 
of  it  were  squandered  amidst  the  tears,  and  in 
spite  of  the  tender  and  earnest  expostulations  of  a 
suffering  famil}r.  And  now  if  I  should  look  for 
that  once  rejoicing  and  apparently  fortunate  bride, 
I  should  go  to  an  obscure  cabin  of  wretchedness, 
and  should  find  her  laboring  with  her  own  hands 
to  provide  bread  for  her  more  than  orphan  chil- 
dren, and  she  would  tell  me  a  tale  of  wo,  which 
however  familiar  to  me,  would  make  me  sit  down 
and  weep.  This  same  man,  who  has  plunged  her 
and  her  little  ones  into  so  much  wretchedness, 
possesses  many  naturally  amiable  qualities,  and  is 
gifted  with  enviable  powers  of 'mind;  but  unhap- 
pily in  early  life  he  became  a  spendthrift,  and  on 
this  rock  the  fortunes  of  himself  and  of  his  family 
were  wrecked.  If  you  should  ever  give  yourself 
to  a  man  of  similar  character,  you  need  not  be 
disappointed  if  you  should  experience  a  similar 
destiny. 


A     DAUGHTER.  169 

Do  not  marry  a  miser.  Such  a  man  may  be 
rich,  very  rich,  but  you  could  expect  that  his 
riches  would  yield  you  little,  else  than  misery.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  you  might  have  the  morti- 
fication of  being  compelled  not  only  to  refuse  every 
call  of  charity,  but  to  abridge,  in  a  great  degree, 
your  own  personal  comforts,  and  of  knowing  at 
the  same  time  that  there  were  ample  means  within 
your  reach  which  yet  you  were  forbidden  to 
appropriate.  If  you  must  marry  a  miser,  I  would 
say,  better  marry  one  who  is  poor  than  one  who 
is  rich ;  for  in  the  former  case,  to  whatever  incon- 
venience you  might  be  exposed,  you  would  be 
saved  the  disheartening  reflection,  that  you  were 
poor  in  the  midst  of  abundance.  As  I  would 
have  you  always  cultivate  a  noble  and  liberal 
spirit,  I  beg  you  will  never  for  a  moment  think  of 
forming  a  connexion,  that  shall  subject  you  in  this 
respect  to  the  least  embarrassment. 

Do  not  marry  a  man  whose  age  is  greatly  dis- 
proportioned  to  your  own.  I  will  not  sav  that 
circumstances  never  exist  which  justify  a  devia- 
tion from  this  rule  ;  or  that  there  are  no  cases 
in  which  it  is  violated,  that  result  favorably  to 
the  happiness  of  both  parties.  But  I  am  con- 
strained to  say  that  such  connexions  present,  at 
least  to  my  own  eye,  a  violation  of  good  taste,  and 
seem  contrary  to  the   dictates  of  nature.     Besides. 


170  LETTERS     TO 

it  is  an  exceedingly  awkward  thing  for  a  young 
girl  to  be  going  round  with  a  man  of  triple  her 
own  age  as  a  husband,  and  puzzling  all  who  see 
them  together  to  decide  whether  she  is  the  grand- 
daughter or  the  wife.  And  a  greater  evil  still  is, 
that  there  must  needs  ^e  in  many  respects  an 
entire  lack  of  congeniality  between  them.  He  has 
the  habits  and  feelings  of  age,  she  the  vivacity  and 
buoyancy  of  youth  ;  and  it  were  impossible  that 
this  wide  difference  should  not  sooner  or  later  be 
painfully  felt.  And  she  may  reasonably  expect 
that  some  of  her  best  days  will  be  spent,  not  in 
sustaining  the  infirmities  of  an  aged  father,  but  in 
ministering  to  the  necessities  of  a  superannuated 
husband  ;  and  it  would  not  be  strange  if  the  bur- 
den should  be  increased  by  her  being  compelled  to 
encounter  the  spirit  of  complaint  and  petulance, 
by  which  old  age  is  often  attended.  I  confess 
that,  whenever  I  see  a  respectable  female,  in  the 
meridian  of  life  in  these  circumstances,  I  regard 
her  with  pity  ;  and  though  I  venerate  her  for  the 
affectionate  and  faithful  attentions  which  she  ren- 
ders to  the  man  whom  she  has  accepted  as  her 
husband,  I  cannot  but  wish,  for  the  sake  of  her 
own  dignity  and  happiness,  that  those  attentions 
had  devolved  upon  some  other  individual. 

Do  not  marry  a  man  who  is  not  industrious  in 
some  honorable  vocation.     It  is  bad  for  any  indi- 


A     DAUGHTER.  171 

vidual  to  be  without  some  set  employment :  the 
effect  of  it  is  very  apt  to  be,  that  he  abuses  his 
talents,  perverts  his  time  to  unworthy  purposes,  and 
contracts  a  habit  of  living  to  little  purpose  but  that 
of  self  gratification.  A  man  without  property,  and 
yet  without  business,  no  girl  could  ever  think  of 
marrying,  unless  she  had  made  up  her  mind  to 
sell  herself  to  the  lowest  bidder.  A  rich  man  may 
have  retired  from  active  business,  after  accumu- 
lating an  estate,  and  yet  may  find  employment 
enough  in  the  supervision  and  management  of  it  ; 
but  if  a  man  has  become  rich  by  inheritance,  and 
has  never  acquired  a  habit  of  industry,  and  has 
been  brought  up  in  abundance  to  live  only  as  a 
drone,  I  would  say  that  it  were  scarcely  more  safe  to 
marry  him  than  if  he  were  actually  poor  ;  for  this 
indolent  habit  is  a  pledge  of  the  speedy  dissipation 
of  his  property.  A  habit  of  industry  once  formed 
is  not  likely  to  be  ever  lost.  Place  the  individual 
in  whatever  circumstances  you  will,  and  he  will 
not  be  satisfied  unless  he  can  be  active.  More- 
over, it  will  impart  to  his  character  an  energy  and 
efficiency,  and  I  may  add,  dignity,  which  can 
hardly  fail  to  render  him  an  object  of  respect.  I 
should  regard  your  prospects  for  life  as  far  better, 
if  you  should  marry  a  man  of  very  limited  pro- 
perty, or  even  no  property  at  all,  with  an  honest 
vocation  and  a  habit  of  industry,   than  if  I  were 


172  LETTERS     TO 

to  see  you  united  to  one  of  extensive  wealth,  who  had 
never  been  taught  to  exercise  his  own  powers,  and 
had  sunk  into  the  sensual  gratification  of  himself. 
Do  not  marry  a  man  of  an  irritable,  violent,  or 
overbearing  temper.  There  is  nothing  with 
which  domestic  enjoyment  is  more  intimately 
connected,  than  a  naturally  amiable  and  affection- 
ate disposition;  and  the  absence  of  this  is  sure  to 
render  a  delicate  and  sensitive  female,  in  no  small 
degree,  unhappy.  To  be  compelled  to  witness 
frequent  ebullitions  of  angry  passion —  to  hear  her 
well  intended  actions  often  complained  of,  and 
her  purest  motives  bitterly  impeached  —  to  feel 
that  the  stern  hand  of  power  is  stretched  over, 
rather  than  the  soft  arm  of  kindness  laid  beneath 
her  —  this  is  a  lot  from  which  it  would  seem  the 
gentleness  of  female  character  ought  to  claim  an 
exemption.  I  say  then,  as  you  value  your  com- 
fort, venture  not  to  form  this  connexion  with  a 
man  of  an  unamiable  temper.  The  only  exception 
to  be  made  from  this  remark  is  the  case  of  the 
man,  in  whom  the  principle  of  religion  has  gained 
such  an  ascendancy,  as  to  remedy  the  obliquities 
of  a  perverse  constitution.  But  this  is  one  of  the 
highest  and  holiest  triumphs  of  religion  itself ;  and 
you  ought  to  gain  good  evidence  that  it  has  ac- 
complished this  noble  work,  before  you  venture  to 
stake  your  happiness  upon  it. 


A     DAUGHTER.  173 

Do  not  marry  a  man  who  is  deficient  in  under- 
standing, or  in  mental  acquisitions.  I  do  not 
mean  that  you  should  look  for  an  intellect  of  the 
highest  order,  or  that  you  should  consider  yourself 
entitled  to  it  ;  but  I  mean  that  a  woman  of  decent 
intelligence  can  never  be  happy  with  a  fool.  If 
you  were  united  to  a  man  of  inferior  endow- 
ments, you  would  not  only  lose  the  advantage 
which  might  result  from  an  unreserved  intercourse 
with  one  of  a  different  character,  but  you  would 
also  be  subject  to  a  thousand  painful  mortifica- 
tions from  the  awkward  mistakes  and  ridiculous 
opinions  which  would  result  from  his  ignorance. 
There  is  scarcely  any  thing  more  painful  than  to 
observe  a  lady  and  her  husband  in  society,  when 
every  one  feels  the  superiority  of  the  former  to  the 
latter  ;  and  when  the  wife  herself  is  manifestly  so 
much  impressed  with  his  inferiority,  that  the 
opening  of  his  lips  is  the  signal  for  the  dropping 
of  her  head,  or  for  a  blush  to  diffuse  itself  over 
her  countenance.  It  were  certainly  a  mark  of 
imprudence  for  any  lady  to  marry  a  man,  whom 
she  would  be  ashamed  to  introduce  into  any  circle 
to  which  she  would  have  access. 

Do  not  marry  a  man  who  is  skeptical  in  his  prin- 
ciples. If  he  be  an  avowed  infidel,  or  if  he  hold 
any  fundamental  error  in  religion,  and  yet  have 
every  other  quality  which  you  could  desire,  it  would 


174  LETTERS     TO 

be  an  act  of  infatuation  in  you  to  consent  to  be- 
come his  wife.  You  cannot,  upon  any  principles 
of  reason,  calculate  that,  if  you  do  this,  you  will 
escape  injury.  I  know  an  instance  in  which  a 
young  female,  who  had  had  a  religious  education, 
married  an  infidel  —  a  thorough-going  disciple  of 
that  female  monster,  who  has  recently  gone 
through  this  country  on  the  most  malignant  of  all 
errands  —  to  corrupt  its  youth ;  and  the  conse- 
quence of  this  connexion  has  been,  that  she  has 
plunged  with  her  husband  into  the  gulf  of  infidel- 
ity, and  now  openly  reviles  the  Saviour,  and  ridi- 
cules the  most  sacred  and  awful  truths  of  religion. 
I  know  another  instance  in  which  the  husband  of 
a  lady  of  established  religious  principles,  and  of 
apparently  devoted  piety,  became  a  zealous  advo- 
cate of  one  of  the  grossest  systems  of  ( rror  that 
has  ever  been  baptized  into  the  Christian  name  ; 
and  though  at  first  she  halted,  and  thought  she 
could  never  yield,  and  even  expostulated  with  her 
husband  to  retreat  from  the  verge  of  the  precipice, 
yet  she  herself  at  length  tremblingly  approached, 
and  finally  took  the  fatal  leap;  and  now,  instead  of 
hearing  her  talk  of  her  reliance  on  Jesus  Christ, 
and  of  the  preciousness  and  the  power  of  his  aton- 
ing sacrifice,  you  will  hear  her  speak  of  him  as 
only  a  good  moral  teacher,  and  of  her  own  salva- 
tion as  if  the  glory  of  it  all  belonged    to  herself. 


A     DAUGHTER.  175 

And  I  doubt  not  that  these  instances  furnish  a  fair 
illustration  of  the  influence  of  such  a  connexion  on 
the  female  character.  You  may  rest  assured  that 
you  cannot  be  the  constant  companion  of  an  infidel, 
without  breathing  an  atmosphere  that  is  strongly 
impregnated  with  moral  corruption;  and  it  were 
little  short  of  a  miracle  if  you  should  breathe 
such  an  atmosphere,  without  inhaling  the  elements 
of  death.  If  I  were  to  see  you  in  these  circum- 
stances, though  I  would  still  commend  you  to  a 
God  of  mercy,  I  could  scarcely  forbear  to  weep 
over  your  lot,  as  if  your  ruin  were  actually 
accomplished. 

Do  not  marry  a  man  of  questionable  morality. 
However  correct  may  be  his  moral  and  religious 
opinions,  if  he  be  addicted  to  only  a  single  species 
of  vice,  you  have  no  security  that  he  will  not  sink 
into  the  vortex  of  profligacy.  If  he  be  a  profane 
man,  he  certainly  cannot  have  the  fear  of  God  be- 
fore his  eyes,  and  of  course  cannot  be  under  the 
controlling  influence  of  moral  obligation.  If  he 
suffer  himself  to  be  only  occasionally  found  at  the 
gaming  table,  or  if  he  be  addicted  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  intemperance,  there  is  a  melancholy 
probability  that  he  will,  ere  long,  become  a  des- 
perate gambler,  and  a  shameless  sot ;  and  think 
what  it  would  be  to  be  obliged  to  recognize  such  a 
man   as   vour   nearest    friend  :  —  a    man    whose 


176  LETTERS     TO 

character  is  rendered  odious  by  the  very  loath- 
someness of  depravity.  I  say  then,  if  there  be  a 
single  exceptionable  point  in  the  moral  character 
of  the  man  who  offers  himself  to  you,  reject  his 
proposals  without  hesitation ;  to  accept  them 
would  in  all  probability  be  to  prepare  for  yourself 
a  cup  of  unmingled  bitterness,  and  possibly  to 
exile  yourself  from  the  society  of  your  own 
friends. 

Having  said  thus  much  in  relation  to  what 
should  be  avoided,  and  what  should  be  desired,  in 
the  character  of  a  husband,  I  shall  close  this  letter 
with  a  few  brief  directions  in  respect  to  your  con- 
duct previously  and  subsequently  to  your  forming 
an  engagement. 

If  a  gentleman  addresses  you  on  the  subject  of 
marriage,  the  presumption  is  that  the  proposal  is 
unexpected  ;  and  unless  you  can  decide  instantly 
in  the  negative,  (in  which  case  you  are  bound  to 
apprise  him  of  your  decision  without  delay,)  it  is 
proper  that  you  should  make  his  proposal  a  sub- 
ject of  immediate  and  serious  consideration.  In 
ordinary  cases,  it  is  unnecessary  to  ask  the  advice 
of  any  beside  your  parents.  It  is  due  to  filial 
respect  that  they  should  be  consulted ;  and  as  they 
are  most  deeply  interested  in  your  happiness,  you 
could  not  fail  to  regard  their  opinion  with  suitable 
deference.     The   two  great  questions  which  you 


A     DAUGHTER.  177 

have  to  decide  in  order  to  form  your  ultimate  con- 
clusion, are,  whether,  on  the  whole,  you  are  satis- 
fied with  his  character,  and  whether  you  are 
susceptible  of  that  degree  of  affection  for  him 
which  will  justify  this  connexion.  If,  after  due 
consideration,  you  can  answer  both  these  ques- 
tions in  the  affirmative,  it  may  be  safe  to  decide 
agreeably  to  his  wishes.  If  you  are  constrained 
to  answer  either  in  the  negative,  your  duty  to  him 
as  well  as  yourself  demands  that  you  should  come 
to  a  contrary  decision.  And  in  either  case,  you 
are  to  lose  no  time  in  apprising  him  of  the  result. 
If  it  be  that  you  decline  his  proposals,  make  it 
known  to  him  in  a  manner  which  will  be  least 
likely  to  wound  his  sensibility,  and  let  the  secret 
of  his  having  addressed  you  never  pass  your  lips. 
Your  answer  in  this  case  places  him  in  an  un- 
pleasant situation  at  any  rate  ;  and  it  were  more 
than  cruel  to  add  to  his  mortification  by  giving 
publicity  to  the  occasion  of  it.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  result  is  that  you  accept  his  proposals, 
modestly  and  affectionately  inform  him  of  it,  and 
from  that  period  consider  yourself  sacredly  bound 
through  every  vicissitude  to  become  his  wife. 

An  engagement  thus    deliberately  formed,   and 

involving    such    important    interests,    it    were    an 

indication  of   something  more    than  weakness    to 

trifle  with  :  it  betrays  an  obliquity  of  moral  feeling, 

12 


178  LETTERS     TO 

a  lack  of  generous  sensibility,  and  a  recklessness 
of  character,  which  might  well  lead  any  gentle- 
man, towards  whom  the  outrage  was  directed,  to 
congratulate  himself  upon  having  been  the  subject 
of  it,  rather  than  to  have  had  the  same  qualities 
to  encounter  for  life,  in  the  nearest  and  tenderest 
of  all  relations.  The  young  lady,  who  wantonly 
refuses  to  fulfil  an  engagement  of  marriage,  in  the 
estimation  of  all  whose  good  opinion  is  worth 
possessing,  subjects  herself  to  disgrace  ;  and  you 
will  find,  not  unfrequently,  that  Providence  ordains 
something  like  a  retribution  in  rendering  any  sub- 
sequent connexion  which  may  be  formed,  a  source 
of  continual  unhappiness. 

There  are  only  two  cases  which  occur  to  me, 
in  which  there  can  be  any  good  ground  for  a 
young  lady  to  decline  giving  her  hand  in  mar- 
riage after  it  has  been  promised.  The  one  is 
that  in  which  the  person,  to  whom  she  is  pledged, 
subsequently  to  an  engagement  avows  licentious 
principles,  or  yields  to  any  immoral  practice.  The 
other  is  that  in  which  she  discovers  that  he  has 
intentionally  concealed  from  her  any  thing  in 
respect  to  his  character  or  circumstances,  which, 
had  she  known  it  seasonably,  would  have  pre- 
vented her  forming  the  engagement.  In  both 
these  cases  it  is  manifest  that  she  has  a  right  to 
withdraw  ;    for    in    the    one,    he    has    voluntarily 


^■■I^HHH 


A      DAUGHTER.  179 

assumed  a  character  which  will  be  sure  to  render 
her  wretched,  and  which,  if  he  had  possessed  it 
when  the  engagement  was  formed,  would  have 
led  her  unhesitatingly  to  decline  his  proposals  :  in 
the  other,  he  has  gained  her  consent  by  deception, 
and  it  were  impossible  that  she  should  be  morally 
bound  in  a  contract,  in  which  the  ground  on  which 
she  would  have  acted  was  concealed  from  her. 
But  where,  instead  of  immorality  or  infidelity, 
there  has  been  nothing  but  misfortune  ;  where  the 
evils  which  have  come  upon  him,  however  dis- 
astrous, have  been  the  result,  not  of  his  own  folly 
or  guilt,  but  of  the  ordinance  of  Heaven,  there  is 
not  the  shadow  of  an  apology  for  her  deserting 
him.  I  do  not  say  that  circumstances  may  not 
exist,  in  which  it  may  be  best  for  both  parties  that 
the  engagement  should  not  take  effect ;  but  if  it  is 
dissolved,  let  it  be  a  matter  of  fair  understanding, 
and  mutual  consent :  for  her  to  refuse  to  fulfil  it 
were  nothing  less  than  a  wanton  violation  of  good 
faith.  In  becoming  engaged  to  him,  she  of  course 
consented  to  share  with  him  the  lot  which  Provi- 
dence should  appoint ;  and  though  she  certainly 
has  a  right  to  refuse  to  share  the  consequences  of 
vices  which  he  may  subsequently  have  contracted, 
she  has  no  right  to  decline  a  part  with  him  in  any. 
afflictions  which  may  be  administered  by  the  righ- 
teous hand  of  God. 


ISO  LETTERS     TO 

But  you  will  ask,  perhaps,  whether  there  is  not 
yet  another  case,  in  which  a  lady  may  be  justified 
in  declining  to  fulfil  a  promise  of  marriage  —  that 
in  which  she  discovers,  after  she  is  engaged,  that 
the  person  to  whom  she  has  come  under  obliga- 
tion, is  not  in  a  sufficient  degree  the  object  of  her 
affection.  In  a  case  of  this  kind,  I  Avould  say,  let 
her  beware  how  she  yields  to  an  occasional  freak 
of  feeling,  or  take  up  the  opinion  that  she  has  no 
solid  attachment  to  the  individual,  because  in 
some  particular  states  of  mind  she  feels  or  ima- 
gines that  she  feels  a  sentiment  of  indifference 
toward  him.  But  if  she  is  satisfied  after  faith- 
fully watching  her  own  feelings,  that  the  prevail- 
ing habit  of  her  mind  towards  him  is  a  habit  of 
indifference  or  aversion,  better  perhaps  that  she 
should  honestly  communicate  the  fact  to  him,  and 
no  doubt  his  consent  will  be  readily  obtained  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  engagement.  But  in  this 
case,  let  her  remember  that  she  does  not  rid  her- 
self of  responsibility.  She  subjects  herself  to  the 
imputation  of  having  acted  rashly  in  a  case  which 
pre-eminently  required  that  she  should  have  acted 
deliberately  ;  or  e]se  of  possessing  a  fickleness  of 
character  which  must  throw  an  air  of  suspicion 
around  all  her  declarations  and  conduct.  The 
blame  of  the  whole  transaction  rests  upon  herself; 
and  the   most  that  she  can   do  is,   to  transfer  it 


A     DAUGHTER.  181 

from  her  conduct  at  the  close,  to  her  conduct  at 
the  beginning.  Whatever  evil  consequences  may 
result  to  the  individual  whom  she  has  disap- 
pointed, she  must  charge,  if  not  upon  her  delibe- 
rate intention  to  injure,  yet  upon  her  criminal 
neglect  to  avoid  it.  Let  her  never  open  her  lips 
to  adduce  her  want  of  attachment  as  the  shadow 
of  an  apology.  It  amounts  only  to  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  her  own  caprice,  and  with  the  dis- 
cerning passes  for  absolutely  nothing. 

During  the  period  that  intervenes  between 
forming  an  engagement  and  consummating  the 
connexion,  let  your  deportment  towards  the  indi- 
vidual to  whom  you  have  given  your  affections, 
be  marked  by  modesty  and  dignity,  respect  and 
kindness.  Never,  on  the  one  hand,  give  him  the 
least  reason  to  question  the  sincerity  of  your 
regard,  nor  on  the  other,  suffer  your  intercourse 
with  him  to  be  marked  by  an  undignified  fami- 
liarity. Do  all  that  you  can  to  render  him  happy  ; 
and  while  you  will  naturally  grow  in  each  other's 
confidence  and  affection,  you  may  reasonably 
hope  that  you  will  be  helpers  of  each  other's  joy, 
in  the  most  endearing  of  all  human  relations. 

Ever  Your  Devoted  Father. 


LETTER   XIII. 

FORMING    RELIGIOUS    SENTIMENTS. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  I  have  now  gone  through 
with  a  consideration  of  a  number  of  those  topics 
which  I  deem  important  to  you  in  practical  life. 
There  is  one  subject,  however,  which  concerns 
you  more  deeply  than  any  other,  which  remains 
to  be  considered.  It  is  the  subject  of  Eeligion.  It 
is  this  which  is  indentified  with  all  your  interests 
as  an  immortal  creature.  A  deficiency  in  other 
respects  may  indeed  occasion  you  much  incon- 
venience in  the  world;  but  a  radical  deficiency 
here  must  extend  its  influence  beyond  the  grave, 
and  be  felt  in  the  unmitigated  pangs  of  an  eternal 
perdition. 

The  first  branch  of  this  momentous  subject  to 
which  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  is  the  forma- 
tion of  A'our  religious  sentiments.  It  has  been  a 
doctrine  unhappily  current  in  modern  times,  that 
our  religious  characters  do  not,  in  any  important 
sense,  derive  their  complexion  from  our  religious 
opinions ;  and  the  practical  influence   of  this   doc- 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  183 

trine  has  been  exhibited  in  confounding  the  most 
important  distinctions  in  religion,  and  in  annihila- 
ting in  a  great  measure,  the  importance  of  Chris- 
tian faith.  Theie  are  no  doubt  some  truths  in 
religion,  concerning  which,  a  mistake  does  not 
constitute  a  fundamental  error ;  but  it  is  equally- 
true  that  there  are  other  great  and  commanding 
truths  which  form  the  very  soul  of  piety,  the  be 
lief  of  which  must  enter  radically  into  our  claim 
to  Christian  character.  For  why  have  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  been  revealed,  if  it  is  not  that  they 
should  be  believed  ;  and  of  what  use  can  a  revela- 
tion be  to  us,  if  it  be  not  so  explicit  that,  with  the 
proper  application  of  our  faculties,  we  can  ascer- 
tain what  are  its  leading  and  essential  features  ? 
Moreover,  it  is  the  system  of  divine  truth  that  is 
the  basis  of  the  whole  fabric  of  practical  religion. 
If  religion  consist  exclusively  in  being  a  good 
neighbor,  and  in  discharging  the  duties  arising 
from  our  social  relations,  I  will  admit  that  faith 
in  its  doctrines  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  yet 
no  very  perceptible  chasm  be  made  in  the  system. 
But  if  it  be  vastly  more  comprehensive  in  its  de- 
mands ;  if  it  have  respect  to  the  manner  of  our 
reconciliation  with  an  offended  God ;  if  it  embrace 
all  the  mighty  machinery  of  Providence  with 
respect  to  our  redemption,  and  all  the  duties  which 
we  owe  to  God  as  well  as  man  ;  then  it  were  as 


184 


LETTERS     TO 


absurd  to  suppose  that  you  can  discharge  the 
great  duties  of  practical  religion,  while  you  are 
indifferent  to  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  as  that  the 
man  should  calculate  the  distances  of  the  planets, 
or  conduct  a  ship  through  the  ocean,  who  was 
either  ignorant  or  incredulous  in  respect  to  the 
elementary  principles  of  navigation  or  astronomy. 
It  is  the  practical  reception  of  truth  that  consti- 
tutes the  very  essence  of  piety  ;  and  though  there 
may  be  a  speculative  belief  of  it  without  a  particle 
of  vital  godliness,  be  assured  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  as  genuine  practical  religion  without  an 
intellectual  assent  to  the  truth  of  its  doctrines.  So 
far  from  being  unimportant  then,  faith  is  one  of 
the  essential  elements  of  piety. 

It  is  then  a  question  of  great  moment,  in  what 
manner  you  shall  become  possessed  of  a  correct 
system  of  religious  opinions.  To  aid  you  in  this 
important  matter,  let  me  suggest  the  following 
brief  directions 

Let  your  opinions  be  drawn  directly  from  the 
Bible.  I  know  it  is  the  ordinance  of  Heaven  that 
the  first  impressions  of  divine  truth  which  children 
receive,  should  ordinarily  be  from  their  parents; 
and  it  becomes  parents  to  take  heed  that  those 
first  impressions  are  correct :  but  even  if  your 
parents  should  inculcate  error,  you  can  no  longer 
be  innocent  in  holding  it  than  while  you  are  inca- 


A     DAUGHTER,  18-5 

pable  of  referring  their  opinions  to  the  law  and 
the  testimony.  The  fact  that  certain  doctrines 
may  have  been  taught  you  by  the  lips  of  parental 
tenderness,  is  certainly  a  reason  why  you  should 
not  lightly  cast  them  from  you  ;  but  it  is  due  to 
your  own  personal  responsibility  that  you  should 
receive  no  doctrines  ultimately  on  mere  human 
authority.  So  also  you  may  derive  much  advan- 
tage from  studying  the  writings  of  uninspired 
men  ;  but  you  are  to  bear  in  mind  that  they  are 
fallible  like  yourself,  and  that  in  adopting  their 
opinions  as  your  own,  without  examination,  you 
not  only  refuse  the  privilege  which  God  has  given 
you,  of  thinking  for  yourself,  but  you  needlessly 
run  the  hazard  of  embracing  error.  While  you 
make  whatever  use  you  can  of  these  lesser  lights 
in  religion,  remember  that  it  is  alike  your  privi- 
lege and  your  duty,  to  receive  the  beams  of  divine 
truth  directly  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 
Having  satisfied  yourself  that  the  Bible  is  a  reve- 
lation from  God,  you  are  to  receive  implicitly 
whatever  it  contains,  however  humbling  to  the 
pride  of  the  intellect,  or  opposed  to  the  strongest 
propensities  of  the  heart. 

But  you  will  perhaps  ask  whether,  inasmuch  as> 
great  minds  have  arrived  at  different  and  opposite 
conclusions  in  respect  to  what  the  Bible  contains, 
it  be  not  a  difficult  matter  to  ascertain  its  genuine 


186  LETTERS     TO 

doctrines  ;  so  difficult  even  as  to  discourage  exer- 
tion, and  furnish  some  apology  for  an  indolent 
acquiescence  in  human  authority.  I  answer,  the 
fact  to  which  I  have  adverted  may  indeed  be  a 
reason  for  not  taking  up  any  opinions  rashly,  but 
it  is  also  an  important  argument  for  not  taking 
them  upon  trust ;  for  if  equally  gifted  minds  have 
rushed  into  opposite  extremes,  it  is  certain  that 
fine  intellectual  powers,  unless  guided  by  a  proper 
moral  influence,  do  not  furnish  the  shadow  of  a  se- 
curity against  error.  The  best  interpreter  of  scrip- 
ture, and  the  only  safe  one,  is  good  common  sense, 
under  the  direction  of  an  humble  and  teachable 
temper.  Let  there  be  an  honest  desire  to  know 
the  truth,  and  let  that  desire  be  directed  to  the 
author  of  all  spiritual  illumination,  and  let  it  be 
accompanied  with  a  diligent  use  of  the  means 
which  are  within  our  reach,  and  we  need  have  no 
fear  of  being  left  to  any  fundamental  error.  It 
was  the  declaration  of  our  Saviour  to  the  Jews, 
that  if  they  would  keep  his  commandments,  they 
should  know  his  doctrine  whether  it  was  of  God. 
If  a  powerful  intellect  were  essential  to  the  right 
understanding  of  scripture,  you  perceive  at  once 
that  to  the  mass  of  the  world,  who  possess  only 
common  minds,  it  would  be  a  mere  dead  letter ; 
but  as  no  higher  intellectual  powers  are  necessary 
than  fall  to  the  common  lot  of  man,  in  connexion 


A    DAUGHTER.  1&7 

with  that  spirit  of  docility  and  dependence  on 
divine  illumination,  which  all  may,  if  they  will, 
possess,  it  is  manifest  that  the  Bible  is  fairly  open 
to  all ;  and  that  every  individual  is  as  truly  re- 
sponsible for  his  religious  opinions  as  for  his  moral 
conduct. 

In  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  doct  ines  of  the 
Bible,  it  were  desirable  that  you  should  bear  in 
mind  that  the  obvious  meaning  of  a  passage  is 
generally  the  correct  one  ;  for  if  it  were  not  so,  it 
would  be  impossible  for  mankind  in  general  ever 
to  gain  an  intelligent  conviction  of  its  truths.  And, 
]f  I  mistake  not,  one  of  the  most  fruitful  sources 
of  error  is  found  in  a  disposition  to  overlook  the 
obvious  meaning  and  search  for  something  hidden  ; 
something  that  shall  bear  the  impression  of  novelty 
or  of  mystery.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  question  that 
the  Bible  is  an  inexhaustible  treasury  of  wisdom  ; 
and  it  is  one  of  its  glorious  peculiarities  that  it 
will  supply  materials  for  reflection  to  the  noblest 
intellect,  and  will  reward  its  most  diligent  re- 
searches, through  every  period  of  its  existence. 
Nevertheless,  its  leading  doctrines  are  fairly  within 
the  reach  of  common  minds  in  common  circum- 
stances ;  and  if  you  approach  it,  satisfied  to  receive 
the  obvious  sense  as  the  true  sense,  there  is  no 
danger  that  you  will  be  left  to  adopt  the  specula- 
tions and  vagaries  of  a  u  lse  theology.     A  system 


1S8  LETTERS     TO 

of  error  is  never  deduced  from  the  Bible  easily  and 
nkturally;  it  is  only  by  being  subjected  to  the  tor- 
ture of  a  false  construction. 

The  true  system  of  religion  must,  in  every  re- 
spect, correspond  with  the  character  of  God.  As 
religion  includes  the  great  system  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration, it  is  impossible  but  that  every  part 
of  it  must  be  agreeable  to  his  infinitely  perfect  na- 
ture. Any  system  of  doctrine  then  which  tar- 
nishes any  of  the  divine  attributes,  which  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  highest  exercise  of  wisdom,  good- 
ness, justice,  faithfulness,  or  holiness,  cannot  be 
true,  and  of  course,  can  never  have  been  revealed 
by  a  God  of  truth.  I  admit  that  in  the  manifes- 
tation of  these  perfections  there  may  be  depths 
which  the  line  of  no  human  understanding  can 
fathom :  and  hence  the  Bible  may  and  does,  in  a 
certain  sense,  contain  mysteries;  but  any  doctrine 
which  is  perceived  to  be  irreconcilable  with  the 
free  and  perfect  exercise  of  any  of  these  attributes, 
any  doctrine  which  exhibits  them  at  variance  with 
each  other,  and  which  would  of  course  leave  the 
divine  character  to  suffer  in  the  view  of  the  intel- 
ligent creation,  must  be  the  product  of  proud  and 
erring  reason.  It  will  be  well  for  you  to  inquire 
in  respect  to  every  doctrine  that  is  proposed  to 
your  faith,  what  is  its  bearing  upon  the  character 
of  God  ?     Is  it  honorable  or  dishonorable   to  any 


A     DAUGHTER.  189 

or  all  of  the  divine  perfections  ?  And  if  you  can 
decide  this  question  satisfactorily,  you  need  not 
hesitate  as  to  the  ultimate  conclusion. 

But  if  the  true  system  of  religion  must  be  agree- 
able to  the  perfections  of  God,  equally  certain  is  it 
that  it  must  be  accommodated  to  the  condition  of 
man  ;  for  one  grand  design  of  it  is  to  secure  and 
perfect  human  happiness.  To  say  nothing  of  man 
as  a  social  being,  and  of  the  fact  that  the  gospel 
might  be  expected  to  supply  rules  for  the  regula- 
tion of  his  conduct  in  this  capacity  —  it  requires 
but  little  knowledge  of  one's  self,  and  little  obser- 
vation on  the  conduct  of  others,  to  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  that  man  is  a  sinner,  and  as  such  has 
exposed  himself  to  the  displeasure  of  God.  Most 
unquestionably  then,  no  system  of  religion  could 
be  suited  to  the  actual  exigencies  of  human  na- 
ture, but  one  that  should  offer  a  twofold  delive- 
rance ; — a  deliverance  from  the  punishment  of  sin, 
and  from  the  dominion  of  sin  ;  for  even  if  the  sin- 
ner's guilt  were  cancelled,  yet  if  he  were  still  left 
the  slave  of  evil  propensities,  forgiveness  itself 
would  be  no  blessing.  You  perceive  that  a  sys- 
tem of  religion  which  should  merely  prescribe  a 
course  of  external  morality,  however  it  might  be 
accommodated  to  man  as  a  social  being,  would  be 
very  inadequate  to  the  higher  necessities  of  his 
condition  ;  any  system  short  of  that  which  brings 


190  TETTERS     TO 

peice  tr.  the  laboring  conscience,  and  sanctifica- 
tion  to  the  polluted  soul,  in  consistency  with  the 
honor  of  the  divine  character  and  government,  as 
it  could  never  answer  the  purpose  for  which  reli- 
gion was  designed,  were  no  better  than  a  mockery 
of  human  wo.  I  need  not  say  that  a  God  of  love 
has  never  thus  trifled  with  the  wants  of  his  crea- 
tures. 

The  true  system  of  religion  must  also  be  ra- 
tional. There  may  be,  and  there  are,  as  I  have 
already  intimated,  doctrines,  which  in  some  of 
their  lofty  and  intricate  bearings,  we  may  not  be 
able  to  comprehend  ;  but  even  these  doctrines,  so 
far  as  they  are  practical  in  the  present  state  of  our 
existence,  commend  themselves  both  to  the  un- 
derstanding and  the  conscience.  That  they  are 
above  human  reason  certainly  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned ;  but  that  they  are  contrary  to  it  never  has 
been,  and  never  can  be  shown.  God  addresses  us 
in  the  Bible  as  rational  beings  ;  of  course  the 
truths  which  he  reveals  and  requires  us  to  be- 
lieve, must  be  conformable  to  the  reason  which  he 
has  given  us,  and  to  which  he  primarily  addresses 
the  revelation.  To  receive  any  doctrine  that  is 
contrary  to  reason,  were  to  insult  the  dignity  of 
our  own  nature  :  to  reject  any  doctrine  merely  be- 
cause it  is  above  reason,  were  to  claim  a  right  to 
sit  in  judgment  on  the  decisions  of  the  Highest. 


A     DAUGHTER.  191 

The  true  system  of  religion  must  be  consistent 
with  itself.  Truth  is  always  consistent  ;  and  as 
we  have  a  right  here  to  assume  that  whatever  the 
Bible  contains  is  truth,  it  follows  that  there  must 
exist  a  perfect  harmony  among  its  various  doc- 
trines. There  are  indeed  some  portions  of  scrip- 
ture which  may  be  hard  to  be  understood,  and  may 
seem  susceptible  of  some  variety  of  interpretation; 
but  in  every  such  case  the  true  rule  is,  to  judge  of 
what  is  doubtful  by  what  is  clear.  And  if  there 
be  some  passages  which  seem  at  first  view  to  be 
inconsistent  with  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, it  is  right  to  presume  that  these  constitute  an 
exception  from  the  general  remark  that  the  obvi- 
ous meaning  is  the  true  meaning ;  and  in  every 
such  case  it  is  probable  that  a  more  attentive  ex- 
amination of  the  passage  in  its  connexion  will  dis- 
close some  other  sense  than  that  which  lies  most 
upon  the  surface,  which  is  consistent  with  the 
general  tenor  of  revealed  truth. 

The  true  system  of  religion  must  be  adapted  to 
make  men  better.  It  is  impossible  but  that  an  in- 
finitely holy  God  should  desire  that  his  intelligent 
creatures  should  be  holy ;  and  it  were  absurd  to 
suppose  that  he  should  have  given  them  a  system 
of  religion  which  is  not  adapted  to  make  them  so. 
Accordingly,  one  grand  argument  for  the  divine 
origin  of  Christianity  is  found  in  the   holiness  of 


192  LETTERS     TO 

its  doctrines  ;  in  the  fact  that  it  exhibits  the  lines 
of  moral  purity  in  such  boldness  and  strength  that 
it  could  have  been  no  other  than  a  heaven  born 
system.  If  this  be  so,  it  follows  that  no  doctrine 
which  is  fitted  in  any  way  to  loosen  the  bands  of 
moral  obligation,  or  to  license  any  of  the  evil  pro- 
pensities of  the  heart,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
can  be  a  genuine  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  It  is  safe 
to  presume  that  that  system  which  fosters  a  habit 
of  indifference  to  practical  godliness,  and  supplies 
the  human  heart  with  arguments  for  sinful  indul- 
gence, is  a  system  of  error.  It  is  equally  safe  to 
conclude  that  that  system  which  makes  men 
humble  and  meek  before  God,  benevolent  and 
useful  to  their  fellow  creatures,  which  exerts  an 
influence,  silent  indeed,  but  certain,  to  bring  up 
the  human  character  toward  the  standard  of  di- 
vine perfection,  is  the  system  which  bears  the 
signature  of  heaven,  and  in  the  practical  reception 
of  which,  men  become  wise  unto  salvation. 

Before  I  close  this  letter,  let  me  urge  you,  in  the 
adoption  of  your  religious  sentiments,  to  keep  in 
view  the  solemnities  of  a  dying  hour.  Nothing 
will  be  more  likely  than  this  to  guard  you  against 
fatal  error.  If  your  opinions  are  formed  not  only 
in  the  season  of  health,  but  with  reference  to  the 
continuance  of  health,  and  of  life,  there  is  great 
danger  that  they  will  prove  to  be  another  gospel, 


A     DAUGHTER.  193 

and  will  be  so  many  thorns  in  your  dying  pillow. 
There  is  danger  that  you  will  take  up  with  some 
wretched  system  of  error  ;  which  will  serve  as  a 
present  opiate  to  the  conscience,  but  which  will 
leave  conscience  to  rise  upon  you  at  last,  when 
you  can  do  nothing  to  silence  her  accusations. 
But  if  in  all  your  inquiries  for  the  truth,  you  keep 
in  view  the  last  hour  of  your  probation ;  and  if, 
before  adopting  any  doctrine  or  system  of  doctrine, 
you  ask  yourself  how  you  will  be  likely  to  regard 
it  when  the  current  of  life  is  ebbing  away  ;  — 
whether  it  will  come  up  to  your  mind  then  as  a 
minister  of  peace  or  a  minister  of  wrath  ;  —  I  say, 
if  you  deal  thus  honestly  with  yourself,  you  can 
hardly  fail  to  draw  from  the  Bible  those  precious 
truths  which  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Commending  you  to  the  guidance  of  God's 
Spirit,  which  is  able  to  make  you  wise  unto  eternal 
life, 

T  remain  Your  Affectionate  Father. 


13 


LETTER    XIV. 

PROPER    MODE    OF    TREATING    RELIGIOUS    ERROR. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  Notwithstanding  I  have  ad- 
vised you  to  search  the  scriptures  as  the  only  infal- 
lible standard  of  religious  faith,  and  to  admit  no 
doctrine  into  your  creed,  merely  upon  human  tes- 
timony, you  cannot  suppose  that  I  am  indifferent 
as  to  the  result  of  your  religious  inquiries.  I  have 
indeed  no  fear,  if  you  read  the  Bible  with  an  hon- 
est heart,  and  with  a  sincere  desire  to  know  the 
truth,  that  you  will  fall  into  any  fundamental  or 
dangerous  error  ;  but  after  all  it  must  be  acknow- 
ledged, that  not  a  small  number  of  those,  who 
have  made  the  word  of  God  their  constant  study, 
and  have  employed  all  the  power  of  genius,  and 
all  the  apparatus  of  citicism,  in  their  biblical  pur- 
suits, have  given  us  the  result  of  their  labors  in 
systems  of  religion,  which  have  nothing  to  sanc- 
tify or  elevate  the  affections ;  nothing  to  hush 
the  clamors  of  conscience;  nothing  to  illumine 
the  cheerlessness  of  affliction,  or  the  desolation  of 
the  grave.     As  the  gospel  is   designed  to  furnish 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  195 

the  means  of  restoration  and  salvation  to  ruined 
man,  I  am  persuaded,  if  you  examine  it  with  a 
teachable  temper,  that  you  will  find  its  cardinal 
doctrines  to  be,  atonement  by  the  blood,  and  sanc- 
tification  by  the  Spirit  of  a  Divine  Saviour.  All 
the  other  truths  which  it  reveals,  you  will  find  to 
be  in  perfect  consistencj'  with  these  fundamental 
ones ;  making  in  their  combination  a  system  which, 
while  it  brings  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  secures 
to  the  repenting  sinner  all,  and  more  than  all  the 
blessings  which  sin  has  forfeited. 

But  if  the  result  of  your  examination  should  be 
a  conviction,  that  the  system  to  which  I  have  ad- 
verted is  that  which  the  gospel  reveals.  )'ou  will 
find  that  the  world  abounds  with  other  systems, 
some  of  which  have  scarcely  any  thing  in  common 
with  that  which  you  adopt.  There  is  one  system 
which  exhibits  the  gospel  as  only  the  religion  of 
nature  in  a  more  attractive  dress ;  which  pours 
contempt  upon  the  impressions  of  the  awakened 
sinner,  and  blots  out  the  precious  doctrine  of 
atonement,  and  cuts  off  the  only  hope  of  forgive- 
ness, and  leaves  the  mind  to  wander  over  a  dark, 
blank  waste,  collecting  as  it  wanders  nothing  but 
impressions  of  despair.  There  is  another  system 
which  perverts  the  doctrine  of  redemption,  by  re- 
presenting the  sacrifice  of  Christ  as  cancelling  the 
obligations  of  holy  obedience  ;  substituting  for  that 


196  LETTERS     TO 

living  faith  which  purifies  the  heart,  and  controls 
the  life,  the  naked  impression  that  Christ  died 
for  us  in  particular.  And  there  is  another  system 
still,  which  completely  neutralizes  the  most  awful 
sanctions  of  our  religion  ;  which  represents  all  its 
terrors  as  a  fable,  and  throws  wide  open  the  doors 
of  heaven  to  all  the  impenitent  and  unholy.  And 
yet  after  all,  each  of  these  systems  professes  to 
bear  the  impress  of  divinity,  to  be  the  true  and 
genuine  gospel ;  and  their  respective  advocates  ex- 
pect you  to  hail  them  as  fellow  disciples  of  a  com- 
mon Master.  To  assist  you  to  a  proper  decision 
on  this  subject,  let  me  request  your  attention  to  the 
following  hints. 

Make  it  a  rule  never  to  withhold  your  charity 
on  any  slight  or  equivocal  evidence.  To  declare 
your  conviction  that  a  person  holds  another  gospel, 
is  a  thing  of  too  much  moment  to  be  hazarded  on 
any  grounds  which  are  not  the  most  satisfactory. 
Better  far  to  err  on  the  extreme  of  forbearance 
than  intolerance.  Mild  measures  are  much  better 
fitted  to  exert  a  reclaiming  influence  than  severe 
ones.  A  little  severity  may  place  a  religious 
errorist  forever  beyond  your  reach  ;  whereas,  a 
condescending  treatment  of  him  may  be  the  means 
of  dissipating  his  errors,  and  establishing  him  in 
the  truth. 

Moreover,  I  would  advise  you  never  to  impute 


A     DAUGHTER.  197 

to  others  doctrines  which  they  disavow,  because 
they  may  appear  to  you  to  form  an  essential  part 
of  their  general  system.  Cheerfully  give  them 
credit  for  every  truth  they  will  acknowledge  ;  and 
be  very  slow  to  decide  that  the  connexion  between 
a  fundamental  doctrine,  and  one  which  is  not  so, 
is  so  close,  that  the  latter  may  not  be  given  up, 
while  the  former  is  with  some  degree  of  consist- 
ency retained.  The  system  of  religious  truth  is 
indeed  perfectly  harmonious  ;  but  its  parts  are  not 
all  equally  important.  It  is  a  structure  from 
which  you  may  remove  some  remote  appendage, 
and  you  will  only  injure  its  proportion,  or  deface 
its  beauty  ;  but  take  away  one  of  its  main  pillars, 
and  the  whole  fabric  tumbles  to  ruins. 

Set  it  down  as  a  principle,  therefore,  that  all 
minor  differences  in  religious  opinion  are  to  be 
treated  with  candor  and  lenity.  It  is  a  reproach 
to  the  Christian  cause,  that  the  jealousy  and  intol- 
erance of  its  professed  advocates  have  erected  so 
many  walls  of  partition  to  exclude  each  other  from 
the  affectionate  interchange  of  Christian  offices  ; 
and  it  is  a  fact  upon  which  my  eye  now  fastens, 
as  the  day  star  of  millenial  glory,  that  the  little 
strifes  and  jealousies  which  have  prevailed  among 
different  denominations,  to  the  distraction  of  the 
church,  are  beginning  to  lose  themselves  in  a 
growing  attachment  to  the  common  cause.     It  is 


19S  LETTERS     TO 

our  duty  indeed  to  endeavor  to  reclaim  the  wan- 
dering from  every  species 'of  error;  but  the  boun- 
dary of  our  Christian  charity  must  be  nothing- 
less  than  that  sacred  line  which  encircles  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  If  we  de- 
liberately exclude  from  Christian  fellowship  those 
who  hold  the  grand  peculiarities  of  our  faith,  we 
do  it  at  the  peril  of  rejecting  those  whom  God  has 
accepted. 

But  while  I  make  all  these  concessions  in  favor 
of  Catholicism,  far  be  it  from  me  to  leave  an  im- 
pression on  your  mind,  that  it  were  safe  to  receive 
to  the  hallowed  embrace  of  Christian  charity, 
those  who  reject  any  of  the  fundamental  truths  of 
religion.  With  Christian  forbearance  in  respect 
to  doctrines  that  are  not  fundamental,  you  must 
combine  Christian  independence  with  respect  to 
those  that  are;  and  every  Christian  ought  to 
shrink  from  any  act  which  implies  indifference  to 
the  great  foundation  of  the  gospel  scheme,  as  he 
would  shrink  from  the  guilt  of  betraying  his 
Master  with  a  kiss.  The  only  consistent  course 
for  those  who  build  their  hopes  of  heaven  upon 
the  great  truths  of  the  Bible  —  the  only  course 
which  their  own  principles  will  justify  — is  to  take 
their  stand  by  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  gospel  ; 
and  whoever  may  lift  the  standard  of  persecution, 
or  whoever  may  chant   the   praises  of  liberality, 


A      DAUGHTER.  199 

to  guard  these  truths  with  the  most  sacred  vigi- 
lance. You  may  as  well  think  to  blend  the 
darkest  shades  of  midnight  with  the  blaze  of  the 
noon-day  sun,  without  dissipating  the  gloom  of 
the  one,  or  softening  the  radiance  of  the  other,  as 
to  attempt  a  compromise  between  systems  of  reli- 
gion, one  of  which  admits,  and  the  other  rejects 
the  great  doctrine  of  redemption,  by  the  atoning 
blood  and  life-giving  spirit  of  Christ. 

But  notwithstanding  you  are  to  be  decided  in 
your  treatment  of  fundamental  error,  you  should 
be  on  your  guard,  even  in  respect  to  this,  against 
every  approach  to  a  bitter  and  censorious  spirit. 
It  is  not  the  spirit  which  will  recommend  your 
religious  views  to  others,  or  which  can  furnish  to 
yourself  any  evidence  of  their  correctness  from 
their  practical  tendency.  Besides,  as  I  have 
already  intimated,  no  person  was  ever  reclaimed 
from  error  by  being  insulted  or  reproached  ;  but 
not  a  few  have,  by  such  a  course,  been  steeled 
against  conviction  and  driven  to  the  extreme  of 
heresy.  The  person  whom  you  may  not  be  able 
to  recognise  as  a  Christian,  you  may  still  treat 
with  the  kindness  and  courtesy  of  a  friend  :  you 
may  mingle  with  him  in  the  kind  offices  and 
charities  of  life  :  you  may  cautiously  avoid 
reproaching  him  with  his  errors :  you  may  go, 
like  an  angel  of  mercy,  to  his  sick  bed ;  and  you 


200  LETTERS     TO 

may  keep  him  constantly  under  the  influence  of 
your  gentle  and  winning  deportment ;  and  who 
knows  but  that,  in  this  way,  you  may  save  a  soul 
from  death  and  hide  a  multitude  of  sins  ? 

I  will  only  detain  you  farther  on  this  subject 
with  one  word  relative  to  religious  controversy. 
I  do  not  care  how  much  theological  knowledge 
you  acquire,  and  I  will  not  say  that  circumstances 
may  never  occur,  in  which  it  may  be  proper  for 
you  to  use  it  in  defence  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel ; 
but  I  beg  that  nothing  may  ever  tempt  you  need- 
lessly to  enlist  in  any  religious  dispute.  When  a 
woman  takes  up  the  weapons  of  theological  war- 
fare, unless  at  the  imperative  call  of  duty,  the 
native  loveliness  of  female  character  is  instantly 
eclipsed.  The  modest  and  retiring  virtues,  which 
are  the  peculiar  ornament  of  your  sex,  can  never 
find  a  place  amidst  the  din  and  clashing  of  reli- 
gious combatants.  It  was  my  lot,  not  long  since, 
to  encounter  a  sturdy  female  polemic  in  a  stage 
coach ;  and  I  must  confess  that,  after  a  little  while, 
she  succeeded  in  driving  me  effectually  from  the 
field  ;  not  because  I  was  apprehensive  of  being 
crushed  by  the  weight  of  her  arguments,  but 
because,  when  I  came  to  reflect,  it  cost  me  less 
mortification  to  yield  to  her  the  honor  of  an  appa- 
rent triumph,  than  to  keep  the  attitude  which  I 
had    incautiously    taken   of    discussing    the   most 


A     DAUGHTER.  201 

'  momentous  of  all  subjects,  in  such  circumstances, 
with  a  talking  female,  whose  element  was  con- 
troversy. I  confidently  trust  that  the  time  will 
never  come,  when  the  cause  of  truth  will  require 
the  polemic  influence  of  females  ;  and  until  that 
time,  I  hope  you  will  be  contented  to  leave  the 
business  of  controversy  in  other  hands. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  minutely  on  the  several  points 
involved  in  the  subject  of  this  letter,  not  from  a 
conviction  that  they  would  all  be  of  the  same  im- 
portance to  you  as  they  might  be  to  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  but  because  I  wish  you,  on  every 
subject  connected  with  practical  life,  to  have  some 
fixed  principles,  which  will  always  be  ready  for 
application. 

That  you  may  combine  that  charity  which 
"  sufTereth  long  and  is  kind,"  with  that  dignified 
Christian  independence,  which  "  holds  fast  the 
form  of  sound  words,"  is  the  earnest  wish  of 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER    XV. 


PRACTICAL    RELIGION. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  In  a  preceding  letter  I  have 
endeavored  to  impress  you  with  the  importance  of 
correct  views  of  the  great  truths  of  religion. 
Such  views  unquestionably  lie  at  the  foundation 
of  every  right  exercise  of  the  affections,  and  of 
whatever  is  truly  good  in  the  life.  Nevertheless, 
correct  opinions  are  in  themselves  of  comparatively 
little  importance,  unless  they  are  suffered  to  exert 
their  legitimate  influence  in  forming  and  elevating 
the  character.  You  may  have  "  all  knowledge 
and  ail  faith  ;"  you  may  be  unwavering  in  your 
conviction  of  the  truth,  and  even  he  able  to  con- 
found gainsayers,  and  yet  if  in  all  this  there  be 
nothing  that  reaches  the  heart  and  influences  the 
c  nduct,  your  character  in  the  eye  of  God  is  but 
little  removed  from  that  of  an  unbeliever.  You 
may  indeed  pass  for  a  Christian  with  the  world, 
or  at  least  with  the  undiscerning  part  of  it,  and 
possibly  you  may  imagine  yourself  one ;  but  the 
hour    of  affliction,    and   the    hour   of  death,    and 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  203 

above  all  the  light  of  eternity,  which  will  put 
your  Christianity  to  the  test,  will  prove  it  to  be  a 
mere  name  ;  —  an  inefficient  speculation,  not  a 
practical  and  sustaining  principle. 

I  have  said  that  practical  religion  has  its  begin- 
ning in  the  understanding.  Religious  truth  being 
apprehended  by  the  mind,  spreads  its  influence 
over  the  affections,  and  through  them  that  influ- 
ence is  carried  out  into  every  department  of  action. 
There  is  no  mystery  in  all  this  ;  —  no  departure 
from  the  common  operation  of  the  principles  of 
human  nature  :  on  the  contrary,  it  is  conformed 
to  all  the  analogies  of  experience.  You  believe 
that  a  beloved  friend  is  wandering  unconsciously 
on  the  verge  of  a  precipice,  and  liable  every 
moment  to  an  irrecoverable  and  fatal  plunge. 
This  conviction  operates  irresistibly  upon  your 
affections,  stirring  up  in  your  bosom  the  deepest 
compassion  and  anxiety.  And  these  same  feelings 
which  cause  your  heart  to  throb  on  account  of  the 
danger  of  your  friend,  will  lead  you  to  rush 
toward  the  fearful  precipice,  and  admonish  your 
friend  of  her  perilous  circumstances  ;  and  if  need 
be,  even  to  lay  hold  of  her,  and  rescue  her  from 
destruction.  Now  this  is  a  fair  illustration  of 
what  I  mean  by  practical  religion.  You  read  in 
the  Bible,  and  your  own  conscience  certifies  you 
of  the  fact,  that  you  are  a  sinner  ;  and  you  read 


204  LETTERS     TO 

that  God  has  given  his  Son  to  die  for  your  redemp- 
tion ;  and  that  in  virtue  of  that  redemption  the 
horrors  of  hell  maybe  escaped,  and  the  glories  of 
heaven  attained.  These  truths  you  intelligently 
believe ;  and  the  first  effect  of  this  belief  is  upon 
the  affections  —  to  induce  humility,  and  penitence, 
and  gratitude  ;  and  these  cannot  remain  dormant, 
but  must  have  their  operation  in  the  life,  in  pro- 
ducing obedience  to  all  God's  commandments.  I 
ask  again,  is  any  thing  more  simnle.  more  intelli- 
gible, more  rational  than  this  ?  And  yet  this  is 
practical  religion  —  the  Christianity,  not  of  the 
understanding  only,  but  especially  of  the  heart 
and  life. 

It  is  important  here  to  remark,  that  it  belongs 
to  genuine  practical  religion  to  control  alike  the 
affections  and  the  external  conduct.  There  are 
those  who  will  have  it  that  to  be  religious  is 
merely  to  be  susceptible  of  a  warm  glow  of  feel- 
ing ;  to  be  able  to  weep  profusely  under  the  solemn 
and  affecting  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  to  talk  with 
fervor  and  sensibility  of  the  progress  or  the  decline 
of  religion  around  them ;  while  the  every  day 
duties  of  the  Christian  life,  which  require  action 
as  well  as  feeling,  are  unhappily  regarded  as  not 
among  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law.  And 
there  are  those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  seem  will- 
ing to  have  their  hands  put  in  requisition,  while 


A     DAUGHTER.  205 

yet  they  practically  claim  a  dispensation  for  the 
heart ;  who  cheerfully  perform  every  deed  of  jus- 
tice and  charity  which  devolves  upon  them  in 
their  intercourse  with  their  fellow  men,  and  are 
even  models  of  external  morality,  who  neverthe- 
less seem  to  regard  repentance,  and  faith,  and 
devotion,  as  works  of  supererogation  —  at  least  as 
not  being  essential  to  the  religious  character. 
Now  both  these  classes  are  equally  in  a  mistake. 
Practical  religion  does  not  assert  its  claims  exclu- 
sively either  over  the  heart  or  the  life ;  but  alike 
over  both.  The  truths  which  you  believe  must 
exert  their  influence  in  the  production  of  holy 
affections;  and  those  affections  must  exert  their 
influence  in  leading  to  a  holy  life.  If  you  make 
your  religion  consist  merely  in  feeling,  or  merely 
in  action,  it  is  at  best  a  partial  religion,  and  will 
never  answer  the  great  purpose  of  your  acceptance 
with  God. 

It  is  a  consideration  not  to  be  overlooked  in 
connexion  with  this  subject,  that  practical  religion 
never  exists  independently  of  the  operation  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Such  is  the  natural  perverseness  of 
the  heart,  that  it  never  yields  up  its  rebellion,  and 
becomes  transformed  into  the  divine  likeness, 
until  it  is  wrought  upon  by  the  almighty  agency 
of  God.  But  this  agency,  let  it  always  be  remem- 
bered, is  of  such  a  character  as  not  to   supersede 


206  LETTERS     TO 

but  to  involve  the  exercise  of  the  human  faculties. 
Notwithstanding  it  is  sovereign  in  its  nature,  (for 
the  very  idea  of  salvation  by  grace  implies  sove- 
reignty,) it  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  all  the 
laws  of  moral  action ;  so  that  the  sinner  actually 
makes  his  very  highest  efforts  precisely  at  the 
time  when  he  is  the  subject  of  the  most  powerful 
divine  agency.  The  moral  actions  he  performs 
at  the  period  of  his  transformation  into  the  divine 
image,  are  as  truly  his  own,  as  if  he  were  in 
every  sense  an  independent  agent ;  and  yet  God 
works  as  really,  though  not  in  the  same  manner, 
as  he  did  in  the  original  creation.  This  is  the 
uniform  doctrine  of  scripture  ;  and  perhaps  there 
is  no  single  passage  in  which  it  is  more  clearly 
contained,  than  that  in  which  the  apostle  exhorts 
the  Christians,  to  whom  he  was  writing,  to  work 
out  their  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling, 
giving  it  as  a  reason  that  it  was  God  who  worked 
within  them,  both  to  will  and  to  do,  of  his  good 
pleasure. 

But  you  will  ask,  perhaps,  whether  there  is  not 
here  something  of  mystery ;  and  will  inquire  for 
an  explanation  of  this  coincidence  between  the 
agency  of  the  Creator  and  the  agency  of  the  crea- 
ture, in  the  production  of  this  wonderful  result. 
I  answer  unhesitatingly,  that  I  know  nothing  on 
this  subject,  and  expect  to  know  nothing  in  this 


A    DAUGHTER.  207 

world  beyond  the  simple  fact.  That  it  is  so  is 
amply  proved,  not  only  by  scripture  but  experi- 
ence ;  but  how  it  is  so  is  a  problem  which,  to  say 
the  least,  must  be  reserved  to  exercise  the  facul- 
ties in  a  higher  state  of  existence.  To  reject  a 
fact  of  which  we  have  all  the  evidence  of  which 
it  is  susceptible,  merely  because  we  cannot  explain 
every  thing  that  is  connected  with  it,  were  cer- 
tainly the  height  of  infatuation.  Upon  this  prin- 
ciple we  should  resign  ourselves  to  a  universal 
skepticism;  for  what  object  is  there  in  nature, 
which,  when  subjected  to  a  rigid  examination,  does 
not  present  mysteries,  before  which  the  highest 
human  reason  must  own  itself  confounded. 

Practical  religion  is  begun  and  sustained  through 
the  influence  of  the  truth  —  the  doctrines  and  pre- 
cepts of  the  Bible.  Whether  they  are  contem- 
plated in  the  closet,  or  listened  to  from  the  pulpit, 
the  Holy  Spirit  uses  them  as  the  great  means  of 
cherishing  good  affections,  and  of  giving  a  right 
direction  to  the  conduct.  The  dispensations  of 
Providence  also,  by  being  intelligently  and  seri- 
ously contemplated,  are  rendered  subservient  to 
the  same  end.  Whether  the  heart  be  lacerated 
by  affliction,  or  whether  permitted  to  rejoice  in 
prosperity,  it  is  the  purpose  of  God,  in  either  case, 
to  add  stability  and  vigor  to  the  principle  of  re- 
ligion.    And  if  this  result  be  not  realized  from  the 


208  LETTERS     TO 

means  of  grace  and  the  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence, it  were  in  vain  to  expect  that  it  should  be 
realized  at  all. 

It  is  an  interesting  attribute  of  practical  religion, 
that  it  retains  a  perfect  identity  of  character  in 
every  variety  of  circumstances.  I  do  not  mean 
that  it  confounds  all  the  distinctions  of  society  ; 
for  such  God  never  intended  should  be  its  effect ; 
but  it  does,  in  the  most  important  sense,  lay  a 
foundation  for  a  community  of  interest  and  feel- 
ing. It  conforms  the  human  character  every 
where  to  the  same  standard.  Every  where,  it  is 
accompanied  by  the  same  joys  and  sorrows,  the 
same  fears,  and  hopes,  and  aspirations.  You  may 
bring  together •  persons  from  the  most  opposite 
walks  of  society,  and  if  you  please  from  opposite 
sides  of  the  globe ;  persons  whose  feelings  and 
habits  on  other  subjects  have  little  or  nothing  in 
common,  and  let  each  of  them  have  a  principle  of 
genuine  religion,  and  if  they  speak  the  same  lan- 
guage, they  will  recognize  each  other  as  brethren, 
and  they  will  be  able  to  report  a  common  experi- 
ence, and  the  same  spirit  of  love  to  Christ,  and 
love  to  each  other,  and  love  to  their  fellow  men, 
will  glow  in  the  bosom  of  each,  and  they  will  be 
looking  forward  alike  to  heaven  as  their  final  home. 
The  most  cultivated  mind,  and  the  most  unculti- 
vated,   may  be  brought   together,  and  supposing 


A     DAUGHTER.  209 

both  to  be  deeply  imbued  with  genuine  religion, 
they  will  feel  at  home  in  each  other's  society: 
there  will  be  one  point,  though  there  be  only  one, 
at  which  they  can  meet  on  the  same  level,  and 
hold  intelligent  and  delightful  communion. 

It  is  another  attribute  of  practical  religion,  that 
it  is  enduring.  Who  does  not  know  how  fugitive 
and  uncertain  are  the  possessions  of  the  world  ;  — 
how  riches  take  to  themselves  wings  and  fly 
away  ;  —  how  the  voice  of  human  applause  is  often 
changed,  almost  in  an  instant,  into  the  voice  of 
execration;  — how  pleasure  turns  into  pain  in  the 
very  moment  of  enjoyment ;  —  how  even  natural 
affection  itself  will  grow  cold  and  shy,  and  finally 
give  place  to  deep  rooted  enmity  and  bitter  resent- 
ment. But  not  so  with  religion.  Let  the  change 
of  external  circumstances  be  what  it  may,  let  the 
fate  of  other  possessions  be  as  it  will,  this  is  sure 
to  remain  through  every  vicissitude.  A  principle 
of  religion,  once  implanted  in  the  heart,  can  never 
be  eradicated,  and  can  never  cease  to  exert  its 
influence.  It  will  live  in  every  clime;  it  will 
survive  every  calamity  ;  and  it  will  brighten  into 
a  higher  and  holier  perfection  in  better  worlds. 

But  not  only  is  practical  religion  something  that 

will   endure,  but  something  which,   even  here,  is 

destined    to  increase.     The   principle    when    first 

implanted  in  the  heart  is  indeed  feeble  in  its  opera- 

14 


210  LETTERS     TO 

tions  ;  and  if  we  were  to  form  our  opinion  without 
the  aid  of  experience,  and  without  recourse  to  the 
divine  testimony,  we  should  decide  unhesitatingly 
that  there  was  little  reason  to  expect  that  this 
principle  could  ever  reach  a  full  and  strong  ma- 
turity. But  it  is  the  ordinance  of  God  that  it 
should  be  so;  and  the  truth  is  illustrated  and  con- 
firmed by  every  Christian's  experience.  There 
may  indeed  be  seasons  of  occasional  declension, 
and  there  may  be  seasons  of  so  much  darkness  as 
to  create  the  most  painful  apprehension  that  the 
heart  has  never  yet  practically  recognized  the 
claims  of  religion ;  nevertheless,  on  the  whole, 
there  is  a  constant  progress  in  the  Christian's  ex- 
perience ;  though  his  steps  may  be  feeble  and 
faltering,  he  is  still  gradually  rising  towards  per- 
fection; —  gradually  gaining  new  victories  over 
indwelling  corruption  ;  enlarging  the  sphere  of 
his  benevolent  activity ;  and  coming  nearer  and 
nearer  the  standard  of  perfect  holiness.  It  is  said 
by  an  inspired  writer,  with  equal  truth  and  beauty, 
that  "  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light, 
shining  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 

There  are  two  distinct  views  in  which  we  may 
regard  practical  religion,  as  it  stands  connected 
with  the  trials  of  life  ;  as  triumphing  over  them, 
and  vet  as  being  advanced  and  strengthened  by 
them.     When  you  talk  of  human  suffering,  there 


A     DAUGHTER.  211 

is  a  chord  in  every  bosom  that  vibrates  in  a 
response  to  the  truth  of  what  you  say.  The  trials 
of  mankind  are  indeed  almost  infinitely  diversi- 
fied ;  there  are  scarcely  two  individuals  whose 
cup  of  sorrow  is  composed  of  precisely  the  same 
ingredients  ;  but  there  is  not  a  solitary  individual 
whose  personal  experience  does  not  furnish  ample 
testimony  that  this  world  is  a  vale  of  tears.  There 
are  those,  it  may  be,  who,  to  the  surrounding- 
world,  always  bear  a  cheerful  aspect,  and  who 
might  almost  leave  an  impression,  by  the  uniform 
gladness  of  the  countenance,  that  the  sorrows  of 
life  had  i;ever  invaded  their  hearts.  But  if  you 
could  know  all  that  passes  within —  if  you  could, 
even  for  a  single  week,  have  access  to  every 
secret  thought  and  feeling,  you  would  no  doubt 
find  that,  though  the  countenance  seemed  always 
to  beam  with  joy,  yet  the  heart  was  often  over- 
burdened with  sadness.  There  are  comparatively 
few  who  do  not,  at  some  time  or  other,  become 
the  objects  of  sympathy  from  being  openly  buffeted 
by  the  storms  of  adversity ;  but  there  are  few  too 
who  do  not  experience  trials,  and  sometimes  those 
which  bring  into  the  heart  the  keenest  anguish  — 
of  which  the  world  knows  nothing.  Now  I  say 
with  confidence,  that  practical  religion  confers 
upon  its  possessor  a  glorious  triumph  amidst  the 
sorrows  of  life.     Suppose    poverty  come   with  its 


212  LETTERSTO 

train  ;  of  calamities  or  suppose  detraction  point 
its  barbed  arrows  against  a  blameless  character; 
or  suppose  bereavement  cast  a  withering  shade 
upon  the  best  earthly  hopes  and  joys;  or  suppose 
disease,  which  mocks  the  highest  efforts  both  of 
friendship  and  of  skill,  impress  itself  upon  the 
countenance  and  make  its  lodgement  in  the  very 
seat  of  life  ;  or  suppose,  if  you  please,  that  this 
whole  tribe  of  evils  come  marching  in  fearful  ar- 
ray to  assail  an  individual  at  once,  I  am  sure  that 
I  do  not  say  too  much  for  practical  religion,  when 
I  declare  to  you  that  it  will  enable  its  possessor  to 
meet  them  all  in  serenity  and  triumph.  To  do 
this  must  require  a  high  effort  of  faith,  I  acknow- 
ledge ;  but.  only  such  an  effort  as  has  been  exem- 
plified in  the  experience  of  thousands.  Oh  !  when 
I  have  stood  amidst  such  scenes,  and  witnessed 
the  sweet  aspirations  of  hope,  and  seen  the  bright 
beams  of  joy  irradiate  the  countenance  over  which 
sorrow  had  thrown  her  deepest  shades,  just  as  the 
bow  casts  its  brilliant  hues  upon  the  dark  cloud  in 
the  going  down  of  the  sun,  I  have  looked  upon  reli- 
gion as  a  bright  angel  come  down  from  heaven  to 
exercise  a  sovereign  influence  over  human  calam- 
ity :  and  if  I  have  formed  a  wish  or  offered  a 
prayer  in  respect  to  you  at  such  a  moment,  it  has 
been  that  this  good  angel  may  be  your  constant 
attendant  through  this  vale  of  tears. 


A     DAUGHTER.  213 

But  while  there  is  an  energy  in  religion  to  sus- 
tain the  soul  amidst  the  calamities  of  life,  this  en- 
ergy, instead  of  being  lessened,  is  increased  by  the 
influence  of  these  calamities.  Let  religion  emerge 
from  a  scene  in  which  she  has  kept  some  child  of 
distress  from  sinking  in  the  deep  waters,  or  in 
which  she  has  bound  up  some  heart  that  has  been 
smitten  by  the  rod  of  God,  and  you  shall  see  her 
more  healthful  and  vigorous  for  having  performed 
these  offices  of  mercy.  In  other  words,  nothing 
is  so  well  adapted  to  purify  and  brighten  the 
Christian  graces  as  the  furnace  of  affliction.  And 
hence  we  look  for  the  noblest  specimens  of  Chris- 
tian attainment,  not  among  those  who  have  been 
always  surrounded  with  the  sunshine  of  pros- 
perity, but  among  those  who  have  had  to  struggle 
hard  with  the  calamities  of  the  world.  Not  every 
one,  not  even  every  Christian,  whose  lot  is  pecu- 
liarly marked  by  adversity,  experiences,  at  least 
in  the  degree  which  he  might,  the  benign  effects 
of  which  I  have  spoken  ;  but  the  reason  is  that  he 
does  not  receive  his  afflictions  with  a  right  spirit : 
every  Christian  who  is  severely  tried,  may  and 
ought  to  be  the  better  for  it  ;  and  if  he  is  not  so,  I 
do  not  say  that  he  may  not  be  saved,  but  let  him 
take  heed  lest  it  should  be  so  as  by  fire. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  triumph  of  religion  in 
affliction  ;  but  she  triumphs  still   more  gloriously 


214  LETTERS     TO 

in  death.  Yes,  in  that  hour,  when  the  clustering 
symptoms  of  dissolution  proclaim  that  all  is  over  ; 
when  friends  sit  down  and  weep  in  silence,  be- 
cause they  have  done  every  thing,  and  yet  the  be- 
loved object  must  die;  when  there  is  nothing  now 
thought  of,  either  by  the  dying  or  the  mourning, 
but  the  winding  sheet,  and  the  grave,  and  the  re- 
gion that  lies  beyond  it ;  I  say  in  that  hour,  dark, 
and  portentous,  and  terrible  as  it  seems,  Religion 
still  triumphs.  You  may  trace  her  footsteps  amid 
that  scene  of  desolation  in  expressions  of  hope,  and 
peace  and  joy,  and  not  unfrequently  in  the  serene 
and  seraphic  smile  which  she  has  left  upon  the 
countenance,  after  she  has  ascended  with  the  spirit 
to  a  brighter  world.  Infidelity  may  be  brave  in 
life,  but  she  is  a  coward  in  death.  True  religion 
is  never  more  courageous,  than  when  she  is  acting 
as  a  guide  in  the  dark  valley  ;  when  with  one 
hand  she  opens  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  as  a  safe 
though  temporary  resting  place  for  the  body,  and 
with  the  other,  the  gate  of  the  heavenly  city,  as 
the  everlasting  residence  of  the  soul. 

There  is  still  more  to  be  said  for  religion  —  for 
her  noblest  triumph  is  in  eternity.  In  the  religion 
of  the  heart  and  life,  as  it  exists  here,  there  is  the 
germ  of  that  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory,  which  is  to  be  the  Christian's  portion  here- 
after.    Let  no   one    talk  of  the  brilliancy   of  an 


A     DAUGHTER.  215 

earthly  crown,  when  compared  with  the  immortal 
splendors  of  a  crown  of  life.  Let  no  one  value 
earthly  treasures,  when  compared  with  the  incor- 
ruptible treasures  which  Religion  secures  at  God's 
right  hand.  Let  no  one  set  a  high  estimate  upon 
the  intercourse  of  earthly  friendship,  when  viewed 
in  comparison  with  an  everlasting  communion 
with  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  and  with 
the  angels  that  burn  before  the  throne,  and  even 
with  the  infinitely  perfect  and  redeeming  God. 
When  we  speak  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  we  speak 
of  that,  the  full  extent  of  which  it  hath  not  entered 
the  heart  of  man  to  conceive.  It  is  in  that  world 
that  religion  will  sit  enthroned,  in  the  majesty 
of  a  benign  and  perpetual  triumph. 

I  have  rarely  seen  the  legitimate  operations  of 
true  religion  in  forming  the  character  so  sublimely 
exemplified,  as  in  the  case  of  a  reverend  friend, 
whom  not  many  years  ago,  I  followed  to  the 
grave.  He  was  a  man  upon  whom  nature  had 
bountifully  bestowed  her  choicest  gifts,  and  who 
combined  every  intellectual  and  moral  quality 
which  was  necessary  to  stamp  upon  his  character 
the  seal  of  greatness.  But  above  all,  he  was  a 
practical  Christian.  I  knew  him  when  his  locks 
were  silvered  with  years,  and  his  eyes  were  dim 
with  age,  and  his  limbs  tottered  beneath  their  bur- 
den.    On  his  furrowed  cheek  sat  the  smile  of  con- 


216  LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER. 

tentment,  the  living  image  of  peace  and  joy.  He 
could  hardly  open  his  lips  but  in  some  expression 
of  penitence  for  his  sins,  or  of  thankfulness  for  his 
mercies.  While  he  was  cheerful  in  the  enjoyment 
of  temporal  blessings,  the  eye  of  faith  and  hope 
was  fixed  on  heaven.  I  saw  him  when  the  im- 
pressions of  disease  had  fastened  upon  his  counte- 
nance ;  when  the  symptoms  of  dissolution  were 
advancing  in  slow  but  certain  progress,  and  when 
eternity  was  opening  its  doors  to  receive  his  almost 
disenthralled  spirit.  I  watched  him  to  see  if  I 
could  discover  a  symptom  of  terror  or  agitation, 
any  thing  like  the  shrinking  back  of  the  soul  from 
the  grasp  of  death:  but  all  was  calmness  and 
triumph.  Just  as  he  had  reached  the  boundary 
between  earth  and  heaven,  I  said,  "My  father,  art 
thou  dying  in  peace  ?"  and  his  animated  expres- 
sion told  me  that  the  songs  of  seraphs  were 
already  trembling  on  his  ear.  His  dying  eye 
shot  forth  a  beam  of  rapture,  and  told  in  language 
more  than  mortal,  the  vigor  of  a  spirit  on  the 
wing  for  immortality.  Never  before  did  I  behold 
Christianity  march  with  so  much  triumph  into  the 
territories  of  death.  The  scene  is  imprinted  upon 
my  memory,  and  I  would  fain  carry  the  impres- 
sion of  it  to  the  grave. 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER    XVI. 


SELF    KNOWLEDGE. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  I  have  already  endeavored 
to  inculcate  upon  you  the  importance  of  your 
becoming  a  proficient  in  various  branches  of  use- 
ful knowledge.  There  is,  however,  one  branch 
of  which  I  have  hitherto  said  nothing,  which  is 
incomparably  more  important  to  you  than  all  hu- 
man science  —  I  mean  the  knowledge  of  yourself. 
To  this  deeply  interesting  subject  suffer  me  now, 
in  a  few  brief  hints,  to  direct  your  attention. 

In  self  knowledge  I  include,  in  the  first  place,  a 
knowledge  of  your  intellectual  powers.  It  implies 
that  you  understand  the  particular  bent  of  your 
own  mind  ;  in  which  of  the  faculties,  if  any,  you 
are  especially  deficient,  and  in  which  of  them,  if 
any,  you  are  particularly  gifted  ;  whether  there  is 
a  good  degree  of  harmony  naturally  pervading 
the  powers  of  your  mind,  or  whether  there  is  rea- 
son for  special  effort  to  give  to  those  powers  their 
due  balance.  It  implies  also  that  you  understand 
for  what  department  of  mental  action  your  consti- 


218  LETTERS     TO 

tution  is  best  adapted,  and  in  what  field  your 
efforts  will  be  most  likely  to  be  successful. 

In  the  knowledge  of  which  I  am  speaking  there 
is  also  included  an  acquaintance  with  your  moral 
dispositions.  There  is  perhaps  as  great  a  variety 
of  temper  among  mankind,  as  of  countenance  ; 
there  being  scarcely  two  individuals  whose  natural 
feelings,  when  subjected  to  a  rigid  analysis,  are 
not  found  to  be,  in  some  respects,  different.  These 
original  qualities  constitute,  in  a  great  degree,  the 
germ  of  the  character ;  and  in  most  instances, 
whatever  good  or  evil  is  accomplished,  whatever 
happiness  or  misery  is  experienced,  no  doubt  is  to 
be  traced,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  lead- 
ing tendencies  of  our  nature.  With  these  tenden- 
cies, as  it  respects  yourself,  you  should  be  familiarly 
acquainted  :  you  should  know  what  evil  disposi- 
tions you  are  most  prone  to  indulge  ;  at  what 
point  you  are  most  susceptible  of  being  success- 
fully assailed  by  temptation ;  and  at  what  point 
you  are  capable  of  encountering  temptation  with 
the  best  hope  of  success. 

In  self  knowledge  is  farther  implied  a  know- 
ledge of  your  conduct.  It  would  seem  at  first 
view  that  every  individual  must  know  this  as  it 
respects  himself,  whether  he  desires  it  or  not ;  but 
the  real  fact  is,  that  there  is  much  in  the  conduct 
of  most  persons,  of  which,  though  it  be  perfectly 


A     DAUGHTER.  219 

open  to  the  world,  they  contrive  to  keep  them- 
selves in  ignorance.  Not  that  they  are  uncon- 
scious of  their  actions  as  they  perform  them  ;  but 
they  suffer  them  to  pass  out  of  remembrance,  and 
never  make  them  a  subject  of  deliberate  review, 
and  still  less  do  they  think  of  connecting  them 
with  each  other  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  habit 
of  their  life.  If  you  would  know  yourself,  you 
must  be  familiar  with  the  tenor  of  your  conduct 
from  day  to  day  ;  —  of  your  conduct  in  all  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  you  are  placed,  and  in  all 
the  relations  which  you  sustain.  Whether  it  be 
such  as  conscience  approves  or  condemns,  it  must 
not  be  suffered  to  escape  your  observation,  or  to 
slide  prematurely  out  of  your  remembrance. 

You  must  know  your  motives  also  —  the  prin- 
ciples by  which  your  conduct  is  governed.  Not 
only  the  general  habit  of  feeling,  but  the  particu- 
lar motives  which  prompt  to  particular  actions, 
should  be  well  understood  ;  for  it  is  possible,  that 
many  an  action,  which  with  the  world  passes  for 
a  splendid  deed  of  benevolence,  may,  with  Him 
who  inspects  the  motive,  be  nothing  better  than 
an  act  of  gross  hypocrisy  ;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
that  actions  which  to  the  world  bear  a  suspicious 
character,  may,  to  the  Searcher  of  the  heart,  ap- 
pear praiseworthy  and  excellent.  In  short,  every 
action   derives  its  moral  character,   not  from   the 


220  LETTERS     TO 

external  form  which  it  may  happen  to  assume, 
but  from  the  motive  by  which  it  is  dictated.  If 
you  are  ignorant  of  the  motive  then,'  your  igno- 
rance is  radical.  If  you  do  not  know  this,  you 
probably  know  less  of  yourself  than  those  who 
have  an  opportunity  of  inspecting  only  your 
external  conduct. 

It  is  necessary,  further,  that  you  should  under- 
stand your  true  character  as  a  sinner  before  God  ; 
though  this  may  be  considered  as  in  some  sense 
implied  in  the  knowledge  of  your  external  conduct 
in  connexion  with  the  motives  in  which  it  origin- 
ates. The  knowledge  of  sin  —  of  one's  personal 
sins  —  of  their  extent  and  aggravation,  is  obtained 
only  by  a  practical  view  of  the  law  of  God  and  of 
the  atonement  of  Christ  ;  and  until  this  is  gained, 
every  other  species  even  of  self  knowledge,  will  be 
to  little  purpose  in  the  concern  of  our  salvation. 
This  is  a  point  at  which,  alas  !  the  great  mass  of 
mankind  are  contented  to  end  their  inquiries. 
They  are  not  willing  to  look  far  enough  to  ascer- 
tain whether  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  depravity 
is  true  in  their  own  experience  or  not ;  and  hence 
they  remain  voluntarily  and  fearfully  ignorant 
both  of  their  guilt  and  danger. 

You  must  know,  moreover,  as  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  what  are  the  sins  which  most  easily  beset 
you  ;  in  what  way  you  are  most  likely  to  bring  a 


A     DAUGHTER.  221 

reproach  upon  the  Redeemer's  cause  ;  what  means 
you  can  use  with  the  best  effect,  to  increase  your 
spiritual  sensibility,  your  zeal,  and  self  denial,  and 
steadfastness  in  religion.  You  must  know  your 
daily  spiritual  wants  ;  the  various  exigencies  for 
which  you  need  God's  special  grace,  and  the  vari- 
ous channels  through  which  light,  and  hope,  and 
joy,  may  be  imparted.  You  must  know  how  to 
bring  home  to  your  heart  the  precious  promises  of 
the  gospel,  adapting  them  to  different  circum- 
stances, and  finding  in  each  of  them  a  means  of 
sustaining  you  in  adversity,  of  quickening  you  in 
duty,  or  of  protecting  you  from  the  shafts  of  temp- 
tation. You  must  know  the  various  duties  which 
devolve  upon  you  in  the  different  relations  of  life  ; 
duties  which  you  owe  both  to  God  and  man  ;  and 
the  momentous  considerations  by  which  these 
duties  are  enforced.  In  a  word,  whatever  relates 
to  your  character  as  an  intellectual,  moral,  or  im- 
mortal being,  you  ought  distinctly  to  understand  ; 
and  the  whole  extent  of  this  enters  into  the  true 
idea  of  self  knowledge. 

The  importance  of  self  knowledge  may  be  evinc- 
ed by  a  great  variety  of  considerations.  That 
branch  of  it  which  consists  in  the  knowledge  of 
our  sins  is  an  essential  requisite  to  our  accept- 
ance with  God  ;  for  as  mankind  are  saved  wholly 
by  grace,  they  must  feel  the  reasonableness  of  the 


222  LETTERS     TO 

terms  before  they  will  accept  them  ;  and  this  they 
can  never  do  until  they  are  thoroughly  convinced 
of  their  own  depravity.  No  doubt  most  of  those 
great  errors  which  sap  the  foundation  of  the  gos- 
pel, originate  in  the  want  of  self  knowledge.  Men, 
from  ignorance  of  their  own  hearts,  and  conse- 
quent ignorance  of  their  own  wants,  devise 
schemes  of  religion  which  overlook  the  necessity 
of  an  atonement,  or  the  necessity  of  a  divine  in- 
fluence ;  and  leave  man  in  the  pride  of  self  confi- 
dence to  work  his  own  way  to  heaven,  with  little 
or  nothing  of  divine  interposition.  Hence  we  find 
that  whenever  any  of  these  refuges  of  lies  are 
abandoned,  the  first  step  in  the  process  is  usually 
a  change  of  views  in  respect  to  the  human  charac- 
ter ;  and  the  same  fact  takes  place  previous  to  eve- 
ry genuine  conversion.  It  is  the  conviction  of  guilt 
and  danger  that  leads  to  the  first  efforts  to  escape 
from  the  wrath  to  come. 

But  self  knowledge  is  important  not  only  as  it 
is  connected  with  the  beginning,  but  the  progress, 
of  religion  in  the  heart.  It  is  essential  to  keeping- 
alive  the  various  Christian  graces.  It  is  one  of 
the  primary  elements  of  humility ;  for  it  is  impos- 
sible that  the  Christian  should  be  deeply  conver- 
sant with  his  own  corruptions,  without  being  abased 
before  God  in  view  of  them.  It  is  fitted  to  cherish 
a  spirit  of    dependence ;  for  he    who    knows    his 


A     DAUGHTER.  223 

own  weakness  will  feel  the  need  of  being  strength- 
ened from  on  high ;  and  he  who  knows  the 
wanderings  of  his  own  heart  will  regard  it  a 
blessed  privilege  to  yield  himself  up  to  an  all-wise 
and  all-gracious  Guide.  It  has  a  tendency  to  bring 
into  exercise  a  spirit  of  gratitude ;  for  he  who 
knows  himself,  knows  that  it  is  matchless  grace 
that  triumphs  over  the  rebellion  of  the  heart.  It 
serves  to  awaken  and  keep  alive  a  spirit  of  com- 
passion towards  those  who  are  indifferent  to  reli- 
gion ;  for  he  who  has  seen  his  own  heart  in  the 
glass  of  God's  law,  and  has  seen  the  sentence  of 
his  own  condemnation  staring  him  in  the  face, 
must  have  a  deep  sympathy  for  others  still  in  the 
same  circumstances  of  jeopardy.  And  finally,  it 
leads  to  a  spirit  of  forbearance  towards  others  ;  a 
disposition  to  be  charitable  in  the  judgments  we 
form  of  them  ;  and  especially  to  avoid  all  needless 
exposure  of  their  failings ;  for  who  that  knows  his 
own  infirmities  and  corruptions,  can  find  it  in  his 
heart  to  pass  sentence  on  the  character  of  others, 
as  if  he  were  not  himself,  in  some  sense,  under 
the  same  condemnation  ? 

There  is  yet  another  influence  which  self 
knowledge  exerts  in  aiding  t}ie  growth  of  the 
religion  of  the  heart —  it  secures  the  Christian,  in 
a  great  degree,  against  the  power  of  temptation. 
He  who  understands  well  his  own  character,  who 


224  LETTERS     TO 

knows  what  sins  most  easily  beset  him,  and  what 
temptations  are  most  likely  to  overcome  him,  will 
not  needlessly  rush  into  circumstances  in  which 
lie  will  be  peculiarly  exposed  to  fall ;  or  if  he 
goes  into  scenes  of  danger  at  the  unquestionable 
call  of  duty,  he  will  go  fully  apprised  of  the  dan- 
ger, and  girded  for  a  conflict  with  the  enemies 
which  may  assail  him.  The  great  reason  wh:  so 
many  professed  disciples  of  Christ  fall  into 
grievous  temptation,  and  make  work  for  bitter 
repentance,  is,  that  they  are  deficient  in  self  know- 
ledge. This  was  true  of  Peter,  and  it  has  been 
true  of  thousands  of  others,  who  have  made 
shipwreck  of  their  good  resolutions,  and  have 
finally  been  reclaimed  by  a  course  of  the  severest 
discipline. 

Self  knowledge  has  much  to  do  in  promoting 
the  Christian's  usefulness.  That  it  must  be  so  is 
evident  from  the  remarks  already  made ;  for  piety 
is  in  its  very  nature  active,  and  prompts  to  a 
course  of  benevolent  exertion  :  hence  if  self  know- 
ledge ministers  to  the  growth  of  piety,  it  cannot 
fail  to  minister  to  increasing  usefulness.  It  will 
always  be  found  that  just  in  proportion  as  the 
Christian's  heart  becomes  a  dwelling  place  of  good 
affections,  —  as  a  spirit  of  gratitude,  of  humility, 
and  of  dependence  on  God  increases,  he  will  show 
himself  ready  to  every  good  word  and  work. 


A     DAUGHTER.  225 

But  it  is  the  tendency  of  self  knowledge  to  pro- 
mote the  Christian's  usefulness  still  further,  as  it 
assists  him  to  select  a  proper  field  for  his  activity. 
If  an  individual  happens  to  get  into  a  sphere  for 
which  he  is  particularly  disqualified,  let  his  inten- 
tions be  as  good  as  they  may,  and  let  his  activity 
be  ever  so  great,  it  is  not  improbable  that  greater 
injury  than  benefit  will  result  from  his  exertions  ; 
whereas  the  same  amount  of  effort,  in  a  field  for 
which  Providence  had  fitted  him,  might  exert  a 
blessed  influence  on  many  successive  generations. 
Self  knowledge  is  the  grand  security  against  mis- 
taking in  this  matter.  Tf  you  know  well  the 
peculiarities  of  your  own  mind  and  temperament, 
the  weak  as  well  as  the  strong  points  in  your  cha- 
racter, you  will  be  in  little  danger  of  engaging  in 
enterprises  for  which  God  never  designed  you ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  you  wTill  be  likely  to  em- 
ploy your  powers  on  the  most  suitable  objects, 
and  with  the  best  effect. 

Self  knowledge  is  fitted  moreover  to  promote 
the  Christian's  usefulness,  as  it  imparts  to  him 
stability  of  character.  If  you  know  little  of  your- 
self, you  will  almost  of  course  be  liable  to  a  sud- 
den adoption  of  opinions  respecting  truth  and 
duty,  and  to  an  equally  sudden  abandonment  of 
them  ;  and  this  will  produce  a  habit  of  instability 
both  of  feeling  and  action,  which  will  injure  your 
15 


226  LETTERS     TO 

usefulness  by  weakening  the  confidence  of  others 
in  your  judgment,  and  by  rendering  your  efforts 
feeble  and  inefficient.  On  the  other  hand,  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  your  own  heart,  as 
it  will  keep  you  from  engaging  in  rash  enterpri- 
ses, will  also  make  you  resolute  and  stable  in  re- 
spect to  those  in  which  you  actually  engage  ;  and 
your  facilities  for  doing  good  will  be  increased  by 
the  favorable  regard  which  this  habit  of  stability 
will  secure  to  you  from  the  surrounding  communi- 
ty. Is  it  not  manifest,  then,  that  self  knowledge  is 
one  of  the  best  pledges  for  well  directed  activity 
and  usefulness  ? 

But  how  is  this  most  desirable  attainment  to 
be  made  ?  It  is  within  the  reach  of  every  indi- 
vidual, and  yet  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  the 
multitude  remain  strangers  to  it.  The  reason 
is,  that  they  shrink  from  the  effort  necessary 
for  knowing  themselves  on  the  one  hand,  and 
dread  the  result  of  an  examination  on  the  other. 

If  you  would  know  yourself,  it  is  essential  that 
you  should  habitually  and  faithfully  perform  the 
duty  of  self  communion.  You  must  not  be  con- 
tented with  looking  merely  at  the  external  act, 
but  faithfully  investigate  the  motives  and  princi- 
ples of  your  conduct.  You  must  compare  your 
actions,  not  with  any  human  standard,  but  with  the 
rule  of  duty  which  God  has  revealed  in  his  word. 


A      DAUGHTER.  227 

You  must  let  your  examination  be  conducted  with 
great  vigilance,  with  due  deliberation,  with  un- 
yielding resolution,  and  with  entire  impartiality. 
You  must  examine  the  operations  of  your  mind 
and  heart  in  different  states  of  feeling,  and  in 
every  variety  of  circumstances  ;  and  must  com- 
pare the  result  at  one  time  with  the  result  at 
another ;  that  thus  you  may  be  able  to  ascertain 
the  general  tenor  of  your  thoughts  and  feelings. 
A  superficial  and  occasional  inspection  of  your 
heart  will  contribute  little  to  your  stock  of  self 
knowledge,  and  may  even  expose  you  to  fatal  self 
deception  ;  but  an  examination,  conducted  in  the 
manner  which  I  have  described,  cannot  fail  in  the 
end  to  render  you  intimately  acquainted  with  your- 
self. 

Judicious  and  free  conversation  with  Christian 
friends  is  another  important  means  of  acquiring 
self  knowledge.  The  truth  is  that  we  often  by 
our  conduct  exhibit  feelings  and  traits  of  charac- 
ter which  we  are  not  conscious  of  possessing  ;  and 
thus  put  it  in  the  power  of  our  friends  to  reveal  to 
us  the  secrets  of  our  own  hearts.  And  though 
this  is  a  matter  upon  which  we  ought  not  to  con- 
verse too  indiscriminately,  yet  it  may  very  safely 
and  properly  become  a  subject  of  conversation 
with  those  in  whom  we  repose  special  confi- 
dence ;  and  they  may  be  of  immense  advantage 


228  LETTERS     TO 

to  us  by  giving  us  their  honest  impressions  in 
respect  to  that  part  of  our  conduct  which  falls  un- 
der their  observation.  Nay,  we  may  often  learn 
important  lessons  in  respect  to  ourselves  by  watch- 
ing the  conduct  of  others  towards  us  ;  for  it  is 
more  than  probable,  if  they  know  us  intimately, 
that  they  judge  correctly  respecting  our  character, 
and  their  treatment  of  us  will  almost  certainly  re- 
veal their  true  opinion.  If,  for  instance,  the  care- 
less world  treat  a  professing  Christian  habitually 
as  if  he  were  one  of  themselves,  you  may  calcu- 
late, with  absolute  assurance,  that  he  has  become 
a  backslider:  and  many  a  professor,  no  doubt,  if 
he  would,  might  learn  from  the  treatment  which 
he  receives  from  the  world,  that  he  is  beginning 
to  wander,  while  he  has  scarcely  begun  to  suspect 
it  from  observation  upon  his  own  conduct,  or  from 
an  examination  of  his  own  heart. 

Reading  the  scriptures  and  prayer  are  among 
the  most  important  of  all  the  means  of  self  know- 
ledge. The  former,  by  exhibiting  in  the  divine 
law  a  perfect  standard  of  duty,  and  by  exhibiting 
the  character  of  man  in  every  variety  of  condi- 
tion and  under  every  kind  of  influence,  brings  us 
acquainted,  more  than  all  other  books,  with  the 
most  secret  springs  of  human  action.  The  latter 
secures  God's  blessing  upon  every  other  effort, 
while  it  brings   to  our  aid   a  direct  divine  illumi- 


A     DAUGHTER.  229 

nation.  Study  the  Bible  then  daily  and  diligently, 
and  pray  without  ceasing  for  the  enlightening 
influence  of  God's  Spirit,  and  you  will  soon  be  a 
proficient  in  self  knowledge. 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER  XVII. 

SELF    GOVERNMENT. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  Perhaps  there  is  nothing 
in  which  religion  displays  a  more  heavenly  tri- 
umph, than  in  the  power  which  she  gives  us  of 
controlling  ourselves.  The  shock  of  the  apostacy 
has  given  to  the  moral  principles  of  our  nature  a 
wrong  direction  ;  and  all  the  power  which  reason 
and  conscience  can  exert,  without  the  influence  of 
religion,  is  insufficient  to  subdu~  and  control  our 
native  propensities.  Practical  Christianity,  how- 
ever, is  powerful  enough  to  deliver  us  from  this 
unhappy  thraldom.  It  is  by  her  omnipotent  and 
all-pervading  influence  that  the  thoughts  are 
disciplined  to  flow  in  a  proper  channel,  the  pas- 
sions and  appetites  subjected  to  the  control  of  rea- 
son, and  the  tongue  bridled  against  sinful  levity 
and  unhallowed  reproach. 

But  inasmuch  as  religion  regards  you  as  a 
rational  and  accountable  being,  she  accomplishes 
this  redemption   not  by  any  magical  or  arbitrary 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  231 

process,  but  by  subjecting  you  to  laws  which 
are  altogether  fitted  to  your  moral  nature.  If 
then  you  will  escape  from  the  dominion  of  unhal- 
lowed thoughts  and  tempers,  you  must  surrender 
yourself  to  the  practical  influence  of  the  gospel, 
you  must  resolutely  break  away  from  the  en- 
chanted ground  of  temptation  ;  you  must  be  daily 
conversant  with  that  Almighty  Power,  which 
alone  can  arm  you  for  a  conflict  with  yourself; 
you  must  learn  to  detect  the  deceitful  and  wander- 
ing imagination,  and  station  a  vigilant  sentinel  at 
every  watch-tower  of  your  heart.  To  think  of 
acquiring  a  habit  of  self  government  independently 
of  the  influence  of  religion,  were  as  wild  as  to 
think  of  assuaging  the  elements  by  a  word,  when 
they  are  wrought     p  to  the    ury  of  a  tempest. 

An  important  part  of  self  government  respects 
the  thoughts.  It  is  a  delusion  into  which  we 
easil  fall,  that  if  our  external  deportment  is  cor- 
rect and  exemplary,  it  matters  little  what  are  the 
secret  operations  of  the  mind.  The  thoughts,  be- 
cause they  are  invisible,  are  regarded  as  being 
scarcely  within  our  control ;  and  no  doubt  many 
a  mind  finds  an  apology  for  gross  and  habitual 
wanderings,  in  a  sort  of  indefinite  conviction  that 
the  imagination  was  made  to  have  its  own  way 
and  therefore  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  restrain  it. 
So  long  as  the  tongue  is  kept  from  giving  utter- 


232  LETTERS     TO 

ance  to  the  evil  thoughts  which  occupy  the  mind,  it 
is  most  unwarrantably  concluded  that  they  may 
be  indulged  without  injury.  But  the  thoughts, 
let  it  be  remembered,  are  among  the  primary  ele- 
ments of  moral  action.  If  they  are  habitually 
wrong,  the  feelings  will  be  so  also ;  and  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  together  constitute,  in  the 
view  of  God,  the  whole  moral  character.  The 
moment  you  yield  to  the  conviction  that  no  re- 
straint is  needed  here,  you  resolve  on  a  course 
which  must  make  you  odious  in  the  sight  of  Hea- 
ven ;  and  nothing  but  the  well  sustained  and  un- 
detected character  of  a  hypocrite  can  save  you 
from  being  odious  in  the  view  of  the  world. 

I  acknowledge  that  the  duty  to  which  I  am 
urging  you  —  that  of  exercising  a  suitable  control 
over  your  thoughts  —  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to 
which  you  can  be  called ;  and  it  were  in  vain  to 
think  of  discharging  it  without  severe  effort.  You 
should  endeavor  habitually  to  realize  that  you  are 
as  truly  responsible  to  God  for  the  indulgence  of 
a  vain  imagination,  as  you  would  be  if  every  evil 
thought  that  rises  in  your  heart  were  embodied  in 
the  form  of  a  palpable  action.  You  should  guard- 
against  the  beginning  of  such  a  habit ;  for  if  it 
were  once  firmly  established,  there  is  scarcely 
any  other  habit  which  might  not  with  less  diffi- 
culty be  broken  up  ;  for  this  reason  especially  that 


A     DAUGHTER.  233 

this  is  invisible,  and  of  course  not  to  be  affected 
by  any  considerations  drawn  from  external  cir- 
cumstances. You  should  guard  against  all  those 
scenes  and  occasions  which  may  be  likely  to 
throw  you  into  the  power  of  these  invisible 
tyrants,  or  to  lead  you,  even  in  the  smallest  de- 
gree, to  relax  your  circumspection.  You  should 
especially  guard  the  senses  ;  for  these  are  the 
principal  avenues  through  which,  vain  thoughts 
find  their  way  into  the  soul.  But  let  the  effort 
necessary  to  this  branch  of  self  government  be  as 
severe  as  it  may,  let  nothing  tempt  you  to  neglect 
it ;  for  you  may  rest  assured  that  it  constitutes,  in 
an  important  sense,  the  key  stone  to  a  virtuous 
character. 

But  you  must  not  only  look  well  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  thoughts,  but  also  of  the  passions  and 
affections.  This  especially  is  the  department  of 
the  soul  in  which  motives  operate,  and  where  are 
fixed  all  the  springs  of  human  accountableness. 
It  is  indeed  at  the  torch  of  the  imagination  that 
the  passions  are  usually  kindled  ;  and  this  is  a 
reason  why  the  imagination  should  be  kept  with 
all  diligence  ;  but  the  passions  will  never  be  held 
in  subjection,  unless  there  be  employed  in  refer- 
ence to  this  object  a  great  amount  of  direct  effort. 
So  active  and  powerful  are  they  that  they  will  often 
plead    their  own  cause,  not    only   eloquently  but 


234  LETTERS     TO 

successfully,  against  reason,  conscience,  and  cha- 
racter; and  many  an  individual  has  sacrificed 
at  the  shrine  of  passion,  every  thing  dear  on  earth, 
every  thing  glorious  in  eternity. 

As  there  is  a  great  variety  in  the  human  con- 
stitution, the  different  passions  will  be  found  to 
exist,  in  different  individuals,  with  very  unequal 
degrees  of  strength  ;  insomuch  that  what  consti- 
tutes the  ruling  passion  of  one,  may  operate  with 
comparatively  little  strength  in  another.  It  be- 
comes therefore  a  matter  of  no  small  moment  to 
each  individual  to  apply  the  most  active  restraint 
where  it  is  most  demanded; — not  indeed  to  be 
negligent  in  respect  to  any  of  the  passions,  but  to 
be  specially  armed  for  a  conflict  with  those  which 
are  the  most  formidable. 

Guard  against  the  improper  indulgence  of  an- 
ger. The  evil  of  giving  way  to  hasty  and  violent 
resentments  is  always  great,  and  sometimes  irre- 
trievable. You  thereby  deprive  yourself  for  the 
time  of  the  power  of  regulating  your  own  conduct, 
while  yet  you  must  be  responsible  for  all  its  con- 
sequences ;  for  neither  common  sense  nor  con- 
science, the  law  of  God  nor  the  law  of  man,  ex- 
cuses a  bad  action,  because  it  has  been  performed 
in  a  paroxysm  of  passion.  You  may,  by  a  single 
word,  spoken  at  such  a  moment,  leave  a  sting  in 
the  heart  of  a  friend,  which  no  acts  of  subsequent 


A    DAUGHTER.  235 

kindness  may  be  able  fully  to  extract ;  —  a  friend 
too,  it  may  be,  for  whom,  in  an  hour  of  reflection, 
you  would  have  done  or  suffered  any  thing.  Or 
you  may  needlessly  subject  yourself  to  the  ridicule 
and  sneers  of  those  who  are  below  you  ;  of  those 
who  are  upon  the  look-out  for  your  foibles,  and 
stand  ready  to  make  the  most  of  them.  Nay,  you 
may  bring  yourself  into  sad  disrepute  with  all 
around  you,  and  may  greatly  cloud  your  worldly 
prospects,  and  prepare  for  yourself  a  scene  of  mor- 
tification and  disgrace,  which  will  last  while  you 
live,  and  then  be  entailed  upon  your  memory.  In 
short,  if  you  exercise  little  or  no  self-control  in  this 
respect,  you  can  have  no  security  for  your  comfort 
—  no  security  for  your  character. 

If  I  were  to  prescribe  one  of  the  best  remedies 
for  a  hasty  spirit,  I  should  say,  accustom  yourself 
to  be  silent  under  provocation.  It  is  a  maxim 
with  some  that  the  best  way  of  encountering  insult 
is  to  speak  out  whatever  is  in  the  heart,  and  thus 
let  an  angry  spirit  exhaust  itself  in  a  torrent  of 
reproach.  Precisely  the  opposite  of  this  is  the 
course  which  I  would  recommend.  If  you  begin 
to  talk  while  you  are  in  a  passion,  the  effect  will 
almost  certainly  be  that  your  feelings  will  become 
more  and  more  excited ;  for  while  there  is  a  ten- 
dency to  such  a  result,  in  the  very  act  of  uttering 
your   feelings,    you   will   be  in  danger  of  saying 


236  LETTERS     TO 

things  which  will  bring  back  upon  you  still 
heavier  provocation.  If,  on  the  contrary,  when 
you  feel  the  first  risings  of  resentment,  you  make 
it  a  rule  to  pause  and  reflect  on  the  evil  conse- 
quences of  such  a  spirit,  and  on  the  guilt  as  well 
as  the  folly  of  indulging  it,  you  will  probably  have 
occasion  to  pause  but  a  moment  before  reason  will 
resume  her  dominion,  and  you  can  converse  with 
composure  and  dignity.  And  it  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  while  such  a  course  will  exert  the  hap- 
piest influence  upon  yourself,  it  will,  more  than 
any  thing  else,  disarm  others  of  a  spirit  of  provo- 
cation, and  thus  secure  you  from  insults  and  inju- 
ries. Mark  it  as  often  as  you  will,  and  you  will 
find  that  the  individual  who  is  most  calm  and  pa- 
tient in  the  reception  of  injuries,  is  the  very  one 
who  has  the  fewest  injuries  to  endure. 

In  connexion  with  a  spirit  of  anger,  I  may 
mention  a  kindred  passion  —  that  of  revenge  ;  for 
experience  proves  that  revenge  sometimes  deforms 
and  blackens  even  the  female  character.  Anger 
is  most  commonly  the  exercise  of  a  rash  and  hasty 
spirit  ;  and  it  often  happens  that,  though  it  may 
be  followed  by  the  most  lasting  evils,  yet  it  passes 
away  in  an  hour  or  even  in  a  moment.  Revenge 
is  more  thoughtful,  more  deliberate  ;  its  purposes 
are  indeed  usually  conceived  in  anger  ;  but  often 
executed  with  coolness,  and  sometimes  even  in  the 


A     DAUGHTER.  237 

dark.  Whatever  injuries  you  may  receive,  never 
allow  yourself  for  a  moment  to  meditate  a  purpose 
of  retaliation.  You  are  not  indeed  required  tamely 
to  surrender  your  rights  to  every  one  who  may 
choose  wantonly  to  invade  them  ;  for  that  would 
be  little  less  than  to  court  -injuries  ;  but  you  are 
never,  under  any  circumstances  of  provocation,  to 
depart  from  the  golden  rule  ;  never  to  form  a  de- 
sign, or  even  to  harbor  a  wish,  to  return  evil  for 
evil.  Nothing  is  more  noble  than  to  be  able  to 
forgive  an  injury,  instead  of  inflicting  injury  again. 
You  remember  that  most  beautiful  and  touching 
instance  in  which  the  Saviour,  in  the  action  of 
death,  commended  to  the  forgiveness  of  his  Father, 
his  enemies  and  murderers.  Who  ever  contem- 
plated this  incident  in  his  life,  without  a  deep  im- 
pression of  reverence  and  moral  sublimity  ?  Who 
ever  doubted  that  the  imitation  of  such  an  exam- 
ple would  not  confer  true  dignity  of  character  ? 

There  is  envy  too  —  one  of  the  meanest  of  all 
the  passions,  and  yet  it  too  often  gets  a  strong 
lodgement  in  the  breast.  You  mistake  if  you  ima- 
gine that  this  is  confined  chiefly  to  persons  in  the 
lower  walks  of  life  ;  it  is,  for  aught  I  know,  just  as 
common  among  the  more  elevated  as  the  more 
obscure ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  external  circum- 
stances that  can  prevent  its  operation.  It  is  alike 
offensive  in  the  sisrht  of  God  and  of  man.     If  the 


238  LETTERS     TO 

object  towards  which  it  is  exercised  be  wealth,  or 
splendor,  or  any  thing  connected  with  the  pride 
and  circumstance  of  life,  it  is  unreasonable,  be- 
cause nothing  of  all  this  is  essential  to  human 
happiness  ;  and  if  God  in  his  providence  places 
these  temporal  possessions  beyond  our  reach,  we 
ought  to  conclude  that  it  is  best  that  they  should 
be  withheld  from  us.  If  the  object  be  intellectual 
strength  or  culture,  this  passion  is  unreasonable 
still ;  for  it  implies  either  a  dissatisfaction  with  the 
powers  and  opportunities  which  God  has  given 
us,  or  else  an  unwillingness  to  use  the  exertion 
necessary  for  making  the  best  of  them.  And  even 
if  the  object  be  moral  excellence,  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  indulging  this  feeling  is  not  at  all  dimi- 
nished ;  for  whatever  is  elevated  in  moral  or 
Christian  character,  every  individual  is  command- 
ed to  attain  ;  and  to  each  one  God  is  ready  to  give 
the  necessary  helps  for  doing  so.  And  it  is  not 
only  an  unreasonable  but  a  malignant  spirit.  It 
looks  with  an  eye  of  hatred  upon  a  brother,  for  no 
other  reason  than  because  he  is,  or  is  supposed  to 
be,  a  special  favorite  of  Providence.  If  this  hate- 
ful passion  ever  rises  in  your  breast,  banish  it  as 
one  of  the  worst  enemies  of  your  happiness,  your 
character,  and  your  soul.  Or,  I  would  rather  say, 
cultivate  such  a  habit  of  feeling  as  shall  be  an 
effectual   security  against   it.     Think  how   many 


A     DAUGHTER.  239 

reasons  there  are  why  you  should  delight  in  the 
happiness  of  your  fellow  creatures  ;  and  let  those 
considerations  operate  not  only  to  keep  you  from 
heing  envious,  but  to  make  you  grateful,  when 
those  around  you  are  in  any  way  the  special  ob- 
jects of  the  divine  goodness. 

The  various  appetites  which  have  their  seat  in 
the  animal  nature,  ought  also  to  be  kept  in  rigid 
subjection.  These  appetites  were  given  us  for 
important  purposes  ;  but  who  does  not  know  that 
in  a  multitude  of  instances,  instead  of  accomplish- 
ing the  end  for  which  they  were  designed,  they 
actually  become  the  ministers  of  death?  Many, 
even  of  your  own  sex,  and  those  too,  the  circum- 
stances of  whose  birth  and  education  might  have 
been  expected  most  effectually  to  shield  them  from 
such  a  calamity,  have  resigned  themselves  to  a 
habit  of  intemperance,  and  have  ultimately  sunk 
to  the  lowest  point  of  degradation.  Once  they 
would  have  been  startled  with  horror  bv  the 
thought  of  their  present  condition ;  but  the  almost 
imperceptible  indulgence  with  which  they  began, 
gradually  increased,  till  they  plunged  into  gross 
dissipation,  and  exiled  themselves  not  only  from 
decent  society,  but  from  the  affections  of  their 
own  kindred.  What  young  female  can  contem- 
plate examples  like   these,   and  quietly  repose  in 


240  LETTERS     TO 

the  conviction    that   she   is  beyond   the  reach  of 
danger  ? 

I  must  not  omit  to  speak  here  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  tongue  ;  though  much  of  what  appro- 
priately belongs  to  this  branch  of  the  subject  has 
been  anticipated  in  a  preceding  letter.  If  your 
thoughts,  and  passions,  and  appetites,  are  kept  in 
due  subjection,  the  proper  regulation  of  the  tongue 
will  be  a  matter  of  course;  for  "  out  of  the  abun- 
dance of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh."  There 
is  the  deceitful  tongue,  which  deals  in  misrepre- 
sentation and  falsehood.  There  is  the  loquacious 
tongue,  that  monopolizes  the  conversation  of 
every  circle,  and  tires  by  its  perpetual  garrulity. 
There  is  the  vulgar  tongue,  that  throws  out  inde- 
cent allusions,  and  finds  its  element  in  grovelling 
subjects.  There  is  the  inflamed  tongue,  that  bu- 
sies itself  in  the  propagation  of  scandal,  and  loves 
to  array  friends  against  each  other,  and  keep  neigh- 
borhoods in  commotion  ;  and  there  is  the  flattering 
tongue,  which  would  pour  into  your  ears  the  sweet- 
est strains  of  applause,  and  would  make  you  think 
that  you  are  too  good  for  this  world,  and  are  as 
lovely  and  beautiful  as  an  angel.  Take  heed  that 
your  tongue  is  never  prostituted  to  any  of  these 
unworthy  purposes.  And  recollect  that  while  the 
thoughts,  and  passions,  and  appetites,  control  the 
movements  of  the  tongue,  the  tongue  in  its  turn 


A     DAUGHTER.  241 

exerts  an  influence  upon  them  either  for  good  or 
evil.  If  you  cherish  an  habitual  impression  of 
the  presence  of  God,  and  in  all  that  you  say  en- 
deavor to  keep  yourself  subject  to  the  dictates 
of  an  enlightened  and  wakeful  conscience,  your 
tongue  will  indeed  be  the  glory  of  your  frame,  and 
a  source  of  blessing  to  yourself  and  others ;  but  if 
not,  take  heed  lest  it  should  prove  a  world  of  ini- 
quity, and  should  be  the  instrument  of  bringing 
upon  you  a  fearfully  aggravated  condemnation. 

In  respect  to  the  importance  of  self  government, 
I  surely  need  not  enlarge.  You  cannot  fail  to 
perceive  that  it  is  essential  to  all  true  dignity  of 
character,  and  to  all  that  enjoyment  which  is 
worthy  of  your  rational  and  immortal  nature. 
Without  it  you  may  imagine  yourself  free,  but 
you  are  really  in  the  most  degrading  vassalage. 
Without  it,  you  may  consider  yourself  respectable, 
but  all  virtuous  beings  will  regard  your  character 
with  pity  and  abhorrence.  With  it,  you  will  rise 
up  to  the  true  dignity  of  a  rational  being,  and  act 
in  consistency  with  your  immortal  hopes. 

Your  Ever  Affectionate  Father. 


16 


LETTER   XVIII. 

HUMILITY. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  It  is  one  of  the  most  dis= 
tinguisliing  and  lovely  features  of  Christianity, 
that  it  not  only  inculcates,  but  actually  produces 
and  cherishes,  the  grace  of  humility.  So  remote 
is  this  from  the  spirit  of  paganism,  even  in  its 
least  exceptionable  forms,  that  the  language  of  the 
nation  more  enlightened  than  any  other  at  the 
time  of  the  advent  of  Christ,  did  not  supply  a 
word  expressive  of  what  we  mean  by  humility. 
It  belongs  to  the  gospel  to  have  made  the  dis- 
covery that  there  is  a  species  of  self-abasement 
which,  while  it  is  befitting  our  character  as 
sinners,  is  intimately  connected  with  the  highest 
moral  dignity. 

There  is,  however,  much  that  passes  more  or 
less  current  in  the  world  for  humility,  which  does 
not  deserve  the  name  ;  and  in  respect  to  this,  as 
of  all  the  other  graces  of  the  Christian,  it  is  im- 
portant that  you  should  be  able  to  detect  its  coun- 
terfeits.    There  is,  for  instance,  an  abject  spirit, 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  243 

which  is  grovelling  in  its  nature,  and  finds  its 
appropriate  element  amidst  a  corresponding  set  of 
objects;  whereas  true  humility  lifts  the  soul  from 
the  dust,  and  brings  it  in  contact  with  some  of  the 
most  glorious  objects  in  the  universe.  There  is 
also  a  desponding  spirit,  which  lives  upon  doubts 
and  anxieties  in  respect  to  personal  religious  expe- 
rience, and  turns  away  from  the  promises  as  if 
they  were  made  only  for  those  who  could  appro- 
priate them  with  absolute  assurance  :  this  cannot 
be  genuine  humility ;  for  it  is  the  legitimate  off- 
spring of  unbelief;  and  humility  is  always  con- 
nected with  living  faith.  There  is,  moreover,  a 
timid  spirit,  which  attempts  little,  and  therefore 
accomplishes  little;  on  the  ground  perhaps  that 
there  may  be  danger  of  over-rating  one's  own 
powers;  but  humility  is  perfectly  consistent  with 
forming  large  plans,  and  entering  upon  the  most 
extensive  field  of  action,  provided  it  be  from  Chris- 
tian motives.  It  is  a  mistake  into  which  many  per- 
sons fall,  that  pride  is  always  the  accompaniment 
of  rank,  and  that  humility  is  found  almost  of  course 
among  the  lower  classes.  There  may  be  more,  I 
acknowledge,  in  the  one  case  than  the  other,  to 
foster  a  spirit  of  pride  ;  though  even  in  this  re- 
spect, on  account  of  the  different  standards  that 
exist  among  various  classes,  there  may  be  less  dif- 
ference than  might  be  imagined  ;  but  the  truth  un- 


244  LETTERS     TO 

doubtedly  is,  that  you  may  be  very  humble  in  any 
station  to  which  Providence  can  raise  you  ;  or  you 
may  be  very  proud  in  the  obscurest  situation  to 
which  you  can  be  reduced. 

But  there  is  nothing  in  which  a  spirit  of  false 
humility  discovers  itself  more  decisively  than  in 
speaking  more  unfavorably  of  one's  self  than  facts 
will  warrant.  Expressions  of  this  kind  almost 
uniformly  fail  of  their  object  ;  for  it  requires  but 
little  discernment  to  detect  the  unworthy  motive. 
If  you  attribute  to  yourself  faults  with  which  you 
and  the  world  know  that  you  are  not  chargeable, 
instead  of  being  taken  as  a  mark  of  humility,  it 
will  be  regarded  as  an  indication  of  a  weak  mind, 
and  an  unworthy  attempt  to  provoke  commendation 
which  you  do  not  deserve. 

One  of  the  most  common,  and  to  me  one  of  the 
most  painful  exhibitions  of  this  spirit,  consists  in 
the  indiscriminate  and  often  somewhat  public  con- 
fessions of  professed  Christians  in  respect  to  their 
own  coldness  and  neglect  of  duty,  when  they 
manifest  no  disposition  to  be  more  active  and 
faithful.  All  this  kind  of  self  righteous  gossip- 
ing (for  I  can  call  it  nothing  better)  is  often  found 
a  most  convenient  substitute  for  doing  one's  duty; 
and,  if  I  mistake  not,  many  a  lukewarm  Christian 
has  found  in  these  unmeaning  confessions  an 
opiate  to  his  conscience,   in  the  strength  of  which 


A     DAUGHTER.  245 

he  has  gone  many  days.  And  I  am  constrained 
to  express  my  conviction  that  this  same  spirit 
not  un frequently  operates  in  prayer  ;  and  that 
acknowledgments  of  grievous  backsliding  are  at- 
tempted to  be  poured  into  the  ear  of  mercy,  which 
are  really  very  little  felt,  and  which  are  scarcely 
designed  to  answer  any  other  purpose  (I  almost 
shudder  to  say  it)  than  to  lessen  the  remorse  which 
attends  a  habit  of  sinning.  Wherever  you  see 
active  efforts  to  forsake  sin  and  to  rise  to  a  higher 
tone  of  religious  feeling  and  action,  there  you 
may  take  it  for  granted  is  true  humility:  but 
where  nothing  appears  but  confessions  of  delin- 
quency, however  deep  or  often  repeated,  you  may 
rely  on  it,  the  genuine  grace  is  not  there. 

True  Christian  humility  is  one  of  the  effects  of 
divine  grace  operating  upon  the  heart.  The 
apostle  has  beautifully  described  it  in  few  words, 
as  a  disposition  which  leads  us  not  to  think  more 
highly  of  ourselves  than  we  ought  to  think.  It 
discovers  itself  in  heartfelt  expressions  of  abase- 
ment before  God,  and  in  the  modesty  of  our 
appearance,  conversation,  and  pursuits,  before  the 
world. 

It  is  one  of  the  first  exercises  of  true  humility, 
that  it  leads  to  the  renunciation  of  our  own  works 
as  a  ground  of  justification.  Notwithstanding  the 
Christian  may  be  conscious  of  being  enabled  really 


246  LETTERS     TO 

to  exercise  some  graces,  yet  when  he  compares 
his  character  with  the  standard,  he  rinds  such  an 
awful  deficiency  that  he  dares  not  trust  to  his  own 
doings  for  a  moment.  When  he  asks  himself 
whether  he  is  really  sincere,  whether  he  loves 
God,  and  is  seeking  to  advance  his  glory,  his  con- 
science returns  an  affirmative,  though  perhaps  a 
somewhat  trembling  answer.  But  when  he  in- 
quires whether  his  offences  do  not  fearfully  pre- 
ponderate, much  more  whether  he  has  a  right  to 
hope  for  salvation  on  the  ground  of  his  own  obe- 
dience, his  mind  is  instantly  directed  to  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ.  Sometimes,  it  may  be,  when 
the  candle  of  the  Lord  shines  bright  upon  him,  he 
is  ready  for  a  moment  to  imagine  that  his  moun- 
tain stands  strong  ;  but  not  improbably  the  change 
is  so  sudden  to  a  state  of  darkness  and  doubt,  that 
he  begins  to  question  the  reality  of  his  whole  ex- 
perience. Whoever  has  yet  to  learn  that  his  own 
strength  is  weakness,  and  that  his  own  righteous- 
ness is  nothing  in  the  affair  of  justification,  has  not 
entered  upon  the  Christian  life,  and  is  of  course  a 
stranger  to  genuine  humility. 

Closely  connected  with  the  renunciation  of  our 
own  works,  is  hatred  of  sin.  It  is  true  indeed  that 
the  Christian  does  not  contemplate  sin  in  all  its 
malignity  :  he  does  not  realize  how  deep  is  the  de- 
pravity which  reigns  in  his  own  heart ;  nor  are  the 


A     DAUGHTER 


247 


views  which  he  has  of  the  subject  equally  clear 
at  all  times  :  still  he  has  had  such  views  at  some 
period  or  other  as  to  bring  him  into  the  dust  before 
God.  And  this  self  abasement  does  not  arise 
from  the  contemplation  of  sin  as  it  is  acted  out  in 
its  more  odious  forms  in  the  world,  so  much  as 
from  a  view  of  his  own  personal  depravity.  It  is 
the  principle  of  sin,  especially  as  it  operates  in 
his  own  bosom,  which  awakens  his  most  cordial 
hatred,  and  enlists  his  most  active  opposition. 

The  motives  for  the  cultivation  of  humility  are 
so  numerous  that  I  can  only  glance  at  a  few  of 
them.  One  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
this  grace  is  an  essential  and  prominent  part  of 
Christian  character  ;  and  that  you  have  so  much 
and  only  so  much  of  true  religion  as  you  have  of 
true  humility.  One  of  the  fathers  said,  "  If  I  were 
asked,  what  is  the  first  grace  of  the  Christian,  I 
would  say,  Humility.  If  I  were  asked  what  is  the 
second,  I  would  say,  Humility.  If  I  were  asked, 
what  is  the  third,  I  would  still  say,  Humility  for- 
ever." No  doubt  pride,  in  some  form  or  other,  is 
the  ruling  principle  of  the  corrupt  heart:  if  then 
vou  would  reach  a  high  point  in  sanctification, 
guard  against  pride  in  all  its  forms,  and  be  always 
clothed  with  the  garments  of  humility. 

And  if  this  be  so  important   a  part  of  Christian 
character,  I  hardlv  need  say  that  it  is  essential  to 


248  LETTERS     TO 

the  Christian's  comfort.  Every  thing  in  the  uni- 
verse is  part  of  a  system  ;  and  when  it  is  in  the 
place  appointed  for  it,  it  is  either  at  rest  or  in  har- 
monious motion.  This  is  true  of '  ourselves  :  but 
pride  disturbs  this  harmony,  and  by  removing  the 
soul  out  of  its  proper  sphere,  makes  it  restless  and 
unhappy.  The  great  secret  of  true  happiness  in 
any  station  is  to  have  a  principle  introduced,  and 
in  exercise,  which  will  restore  harmony  to  the  pas- 
sions, and  will  relieve  us  from  the  conflicts  and 
tumults  they  occasion. 

Not  a  small  part  of  the  unhappiness  that  exists 
in  the  world,  results  immediately  from  the  opera- 
tion of  pride.  Where  in  the  annals  of  wo  will 
you  find  characters  that  have  been  subjected  to 
deeper  suffering  than  Pharaoh,  and  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, and  Herod  ?  But,  in  each  of  them,  pride  was 
emphatically  the  ruling  passion,  and  to  it  they  sac- 
rificed every  thing  valuable  in  time  and  eternity. 
And  a  similar  result  we  have  seen  in  many  cases 
that  have  fallen  under  our  own  observation:  per- 
sons who  have  gloried  in  their  fancied  superiority 
to  those  around  them  —  a  superiority  perhaps 
which  has  been  conferred  by  the  glitter  of  wealth, 
or  the  breath  of  applause,  —  have  at  length  been 
permitted  to  fall,  not  only  into  entire  insignifi- 
cance, but  the  deepest  degradation  ;  thus  verify- 
ing the  divine  declaration  that  "  he  that   exalteth 


A     DAUGHTER.  249 

himself  shall  be  abased."  On  the  other  hand, 
wherever  the  genuine  humility  of  the  gospel  ap- 
pears, whatever  the  external  circumstances  may- 
be, there  you  may  look  with  confidence  for  true 
happiness.  Even  under  the  darkest  cloud  of  ad- 
versity, humility  diffuses  a  sweet  peace,  and  some- 
times an  unutterable  joy,  through  the  soul.  Who 
lias  not  seen  the  humble  Christian  breathing  out 
his  life  in  triumph  ?  Who  has  not  seen  the  proud 
worldling  dying  without  consolation  and  without 
hope  ? 

Let  me  say  too  that  a  spirit  of  humility  will  go 
far  towards  rendering  you  acceptable  and  useful 
in  your  intercourse  with  the  world.  The  conduct 
in  which  a  proud  spirit  discovers  itself,  is  almost 
sure  to  revolt  even  the  proud  themselves,  when 
they  witness  it  in  others ;  and  as  for  the  humble, 
they  cannot  fail  to  regard  it  as  an  odious  quality, 
though  they  may  pity  those  who  are  the  subjects 
of  it.  The  usefulness  of  the  proud  man  must  be 
limited,  not  only  because  his  pride  will  probably 
keep  him  within  a  narrow  sphere,  but  because  the 
efforts  which  he  actually  makes,  being  prompt- 
ed by  a  wrong  spirit,  will  not  be  likely  to  draw 
down  upon  them  the  blessing  of  God.  It  were 
worth  while  to  be  humble,  if  it  were  only  for  the 
advantages  which  humility  secures  in  the  present 
life. 


250  LETTERS     TO 

Remember  that  a  proud  spirit  cannot  be  con- 
cealed. If  it  exists  in  the  heart,  all  the  means 
you  can  use  to  conceal  it  from  the  world,  will  be 
in  vain.  It  will  discover  itself  in  your  conversa- 
tion and  deportment,  and  will  give  a  complexion 
to  your  whole  character.  I  have  known  instan- 
ces in  which  the  manners  of  persons  have  been 
formed  in  the  morning  of  life  under  the  influence 
of  a  principle  of  pride  ;  and  though  they  after- 
wards gave  evidence  of  true  piety,  the  haughty 
and  overbearing  manner  which  they  had  early  ac- 
quired, in  spite  of  all  their  exertions  to  the  con- 
trary, continued  to  the  close  of  life.  Wherever 
this  spirit  is  acted  out  in  the  manners,  it  is  always 
odious ;  but  where  it  appears  in  the  manners  of  a 
female,  it  receives,  from  the  world  at  least,  a  double 
condemnation. 

With  a  view  to  increase  a  spirit  of  humility, 
meditate  much  on  the  character  of  God,  and 
especially  his  holiness,  as  it  is  exhibited  in  the 
work  of  redemption.  Meditate  much  on  the  exam- 
ple of  Christ,  who  humbled  himself,  and  became 
obedient  to  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross. 
Endeavor  to  gain  deep  impressions  of  your  guilt, 
and  of  the  punishment  to  which  your  sins  have 
justly  made  you  liable.  Dwell  upon  the  goodness 
of  God,  as  it  is  manifested  to  you  in  your  unnum- 
bered mercies ;    on  the  promises   of   God  to  the 


A     DAUGHTER.  251 

humble  and  contrite  ;  and  remember  that  one  em- 
ployment of  the  redeemed  in  glory  is  to  cast  their 
crowns  at  their  Saviour's  feet. 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER    XIX. 

DEVOTION. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  You  cannot  be  ignorant 
that  one  of  the  primary  elements  of  Christian 
character  is  a  spirit  of  devotion.  There  is  indeed 
much  that  assumes  the  name  of  devotion,  which 
has  nothing  in  common  with  genuine  piety,  while 
yet  it  is  adopted  as  a  substitute,  for  it.  There  is 
the  habit  of  entire  seclusion  from  the  world  ;  there 
is  the  practice  of  severe  self  mortification  —  doing 
penance  to  atone  for  one's  misdeeds,  which  has 
been  and  still  is,  to  a  considerable  extent,  current 
in  the  world,  under  the  name  of  devotion  ;  though 
I  need  not  stop  to  show  that  all  this  is  merely  the 
operation  of  a  spirit  of  self  righteousness,  and  in 
many  instances  no  doubt  of  deliberate  hypocrisy. 
It  makes  nothing  against  true  devotion  that  it  has 
its  counterfeits,  and  that  some  of  them  are  very  fair, 
while  yet  they  are  very  base.  It  is  not  always 
easy  at  first  view  to  distinguish  the  genuine  from 
the  counterfeit  coin,  though  when  each  comes  to 
be  subjected  to  a  rigid  analysis,  they  are  found  to 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  253 

have  nothing  in  common  but  the  external  appear- 
ance. In  like  manner,  there  often  seems  a  close 
resemblance  between  true  and  false  devotion  ;  and 
it  may  not  always  be  possible  for  the  undiscern- 
ing  eye  of  man  to  discriminate  between  them  ;  but 
to  the  eye  of  Omniscience,  they  are  as  widely 
different  from  each  other  as  the  most  opposite 
elements. 

True  devotion  is  that  spiritual  intercourse 
which  the  soul  has  with  its  Maker  and  Redeemer  ; 
it  is  the  intelligent  communing  of  man  with  the 
Almighty  spirit,  in  acts  of  grateful  and  reverential 
homage.  The  intellect  rises  up  to  a  contempla- 
tion of  God  —  of  his  character  and  of  his  works  — 
and  the  affections  rise  along  with  it,  and  the  whole 
soul  is  awed,  and  melted,  and  quickened,  by  com- 
ing in  contact  as  it  were  with  the  infinite  Majesty. 
The  primary  elements  of  devotion  are  the  truths 
of  God's  word.  Without  an  intelligent  view  of 
these  truths,  there  may  indeed  be  a  warm  glow  of 
feeling,  but  it  is  not  kindled  by  the  breathing  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  nothing  better  than  a 
gust  of  enthusiasm.  The  person  who  is  in  the 
exercise  of  a  truly  devotional  spirit,  even  amidst 
its  deepest  fervors,  can  assign  a  good  reason  for 
every  emotion  that  he  experiences  ;  he  can  point 
to  some  doctrine  or  some  promise  in  God.'s  holy 
word,  to  justify  all  that  he  expresses,  and  all  that 


254  LETTERS     TO 

he  feels.  Devotion,  just  in  proportion  as  it  sub- 
sists upon  any  other  aliment  than  the  simple  truth, 
becomes  blind,  and  of  course  spurious. 

The  spirit  of  devotion  finds  its  clement  pecu- 
liarly, though  by  no  means  exclusively,  in  the 
closet.  If  it  were  compelled  to  encounter  contin- 
ually the  cold  atmosphere  of  the  world,  it  would 
seem  scarcely  possible  but  that  it  should  languish 
and  finally  expire ;  but  it  goes  back  at  short  inter- 
vals to  the  closet,  and  then  comes  forth  invigorated 
by  its  secret  communings  with  the  fountain  of 
light  and  strength.  It  is  of  great  importance  that 
the  duty  of  secret  prayer  should  be  performed  not 
only  frequently  but  at  stated  seasons  ;  for  while  it 
is  most  intimately  connected  with  the  maintenance 
of  a  spirit  of  devotion,  and  of  course  with  growth 
in  grace,  a  habit  of  irregularity  is  almost  sure  to 
beget  a  habit  of  coldness  ;  and  by  this  very  process 
many  a  Christian  has  passed  in  a  short  period 
from  a  state  of  high  religious  enjoyment  and  acti- 
vity to  a  state  of  grievous  backsliding.  Indeed  I 
think  there  are  few  cases  of  religious  declension 
which  will  not  be  found  to  have  originated  in  a 
neglect  of  the  closet.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
where  these  duties  are  intelligently,  devoutly,  and 
regularly  performed,  you  may  look  with  confi- 
dence for  a  vigorous  tone  of  religious  feeling,  and 
a  consistent  course  of  religious  action. 


A      DAUGHTER.  255 

But  as  we  are  social  beings,  it  is  right  that  de- 
votion should  sometimes  be  a  social  exercise  ;  and 
hence  we  find  that  God  has  instituted  the  ordi- 
nance of  public  worship.  Where  Christians  come 
together  in  the  great  congregation,  and  there  is 
the  union  of  many  hearts,  the  name  of  devotion 
sometimes  burns  with  peculiar  ardor,  and  the 
communion  of  saints  furnishes  some  feeble  im- 
pression of  what  their  communion  will  be,  when 
they  shall  unite  in  the  songs  of  Heaven,  and  cast 
their  crowns  together  before  the  throne.  As  you 
value  the  pleasure  and  the  privilege  of  devotion, 
and  as  you  regard  the  will  and  authority  of  God, 
you  will  make  it  a  point  never,  from  any  insuffi- 
cient reason,  to  be  absent  from  his  house.  I  say 
nothing  here  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  though 
this  too  is  an  ordinance  of  divine  appointment, 
and  one  of  the  most  important  means  of  improve- 
ment in  piety  ;  but  I  speak  now  of  public  worship 
in  distinction  from  the  dispensation  of  the  word  ; 
and  of  that  I  affirm  unhesitatingly,  that  you  can- 
not neglect  it,  or  engage  in  it  with  a  divided  heart, 
without  bringing  spiritual  barrenness  and  death 
into  your  soul. 

In  addition  to  the  public  devotions  of  God's 
homse,  in  which  you  should  always  mingle,  unless 
j  rovidentially  prevented,  I  would  earnestly  recom- 
.,'"i\d  the  practice  of  meeting  occasionally  a   few 


256  LETTERS     TO 

female  friends  for  the  purpose  of  social  prayer. 
The  practice  which  has  prevailed  in  some  places, 
of  females  conducting  the  devotions  of  a  public 
meeting  in  which  the  sexes  are  indiscriminately 
mingled,  seems  to  me  as  contrary  to  scripture  as 
it  is  revolting  to  a  sense  of  propriety  ;  and  though 
I  acknowledge  there  may  be  cases  in  which  a 
pious  female  may  be  justified  in  offering  a  prayer 
in  the  presence  of  one  or  more  of  the  other  sex, 
yet  I  am  constrained  to  regard  these  cases  as 
exceptions  from  a  general  rule,  and  as  of  rather 
unfrequent  occurrence.  But  that  females  should 
meet  for  social  prayer,  and  especially  in  a  small 
circle  —  females  too,  who  are  in  the  habits  of  inti- 
macy, is  not  only  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
most  rigid  propriety,  but  is  due  to  the  relation 
which  they  sustain  to  each  other  as  fellow  disci- 
ples of  the  Lord  Jesus.  While  such  a  habit  is 
fitted  to  strengthen  their  Christian  friendship,  and 
increase  their  interest  in  each  other's  spiritual 
welfare,  it  furnishes  rich  materials  for  pious  reflec- 
tion, and  renders  their  intercourse  fruitful  in  bless- 
ings to  themselves,  and  it  may  be  hoped  to  others 
also.  If  any  degree  of  prejudice  has  existed 
in  any  part  of  the  Christian  community  against 
meetings  of  this  description,  it  is  manifestly  in  a 
great  measure  removed  ;  and  it  is  an  auspicious 
circumstance  that  Christian  females,  in  the  higher 


A     DAUGHTER.  257 

as  well  as  humbler  walks  of  life,  have  associated 
so  extensively  in  smaller  or  larger  circles  with  re- 
ference to  this  object. 

There  are  some  things  which  operate  as  hin- 
drances to  devotion,  against  which  you  ought  to 
guard  with  unremitted  vigilance.  There  is  a  habit 
of  sloth,  which  will  inevitably  keep  the  soul  from 
rising  to  God,  and  will  render  every  spiritual 
perception  indistinct,  and  every  spiritual  exercise 
feeble.  There  is  ignorance  of  divine  truth,  which, 
though  it  may  not  stand  in  the  way  of  mere  ani- 
mal fervor,  is  fatal  to  genuine  devotion,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  the  withholding  from  it  its  proper  aliment. 
There  is  the  indulgence  of  wandering  thoughts, 
which  renders  what  seems  to  be  an  act  of  homage 
an  act  of  mockery.  There  is  the  neglect  of  pre- 
paratory meditation ;  which  makes  the  external 
duty  of  prayer  too  much  like  the  rushing  of  the 
horse  into  battle.  Many  a  Christian,  from  having 
neglected  to  watch  against  these  and  other  kindred 
evils,  has  lost,  in  a  great  measure,  the  spirit  of 
devotion,  or  else  has  never  possessed  it  but  in  so 
feeble  a  degree  as  to  render  its  very  existence  a 
matter  of  question. 

In  the    exact  opposite   of  these   evils  you   mav 

find  the    most    important   helps   to   devotion.     Be 

careful  then  that  you  cultivate  a  habit   of  spiritual 

activity,  and  that  vour  religious  affections  are  kept 

17 


258  LETTERS     TO 

continually  vigorous  by  proper  exercise.  Be  care- 
ful that  your  mind  is  richly  imbued  with  divine 
truth  for  it  is  this  which  supplies  the  Christian 
with  arguments  in  prayer,  and  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  uses  in  teaching  him  how  to  pray.  Be  care- 
ful that  you  keep  your  heart  with  all  diligence  ; 
for  a  heart  thus  kept,  awakes  as  it  were  instinct- 
ively, to  the  exercise  of  devotion.  Be  careful  that 
you  bring  before  your  mind,  by  meditation,  the 
various  subjects  proper  to  occupy  you  in  prayer  ; 
for  this  will  render  your  offering  at  once  more  in- 
telligent, more  comfortable  to  yourself,  and,  as  you 
have  reason  to  believe,  more  acceptable  to  God. 
Indeed  there  is  no  Christian  duty  which  you  can 
perform  —  no  Christian  grace  which  you  can  cul- 
tivate, but  it  is  fitted,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  cherish  a  spirit  of  devotion  ;  for  the  various 
parts  of  the  Christian  character  are  designed  to 
have,  and  where  their  tendency  is  not  counter- 
acted, actually  do  have  a  reciprocal  influence  on 
each  other. 

Whether  you  have  the  spirit  of  genuine  devotion 
or  not,  you  may  ascertain  by  the  following  marks. 
It  will  lead  you  to  adore  the  perfections  and 
government  of  God  ;  to  rejoice  in  the  various  dis- 
coveries of  his  will  ;  and  especially  those  which 
are  made  to  us  through  the  medium  of  his  word. 
It  will  raise  your  heart  to  him  in  grateful  acknow- 


A     DAUGHTER.  259 

ledgment  of  your  entire  dependence  ;  in  humble 
confession  of  the  sins  of  your  life,  and  in  devout 
thanksgiving  for  the  glorious  scheme  of  redemp- 
tion through  Christ.  It  will  lead  you  to  intercede 
for  the  whole  human  family  ;  to  pray  for  the  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  truth  and  righteousness  ;  and 
to  aim  at  a  constant  conformity  to  the  maxims 
and  principles  of  the  gospel. 

The  influence  which  a  spirit  of  devotion,  habitu- 
ally cherished,  will  exert  upon  your  character, 
happiness,  and  usefulness,  it  is  not  easy  adequately 
to  estimate.  The  effect  of  it  will  indeed  be  to 
humble  you  ;  for  the  more  the  Christian  sees  of 
God,  the  more  he  is  disposed,  like  Job,  to  abhor 
himself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes.  Bat  never- 
theless it  will  serve  to  exalt  you  ;  for  it  will  open 
a  free  intercourse  between  you  and  your  Re- 
deemer, and  will  keep  you  constantly  conversant 
with  the  most  glorious  objects  and  interests  in  the 
universe.  It  will  tend  also  to  render  you  more 
pure  ;  for  what  so  likely  to  effect  this  as  commu- 
nion with  a  God  of  infinite  purity  ?  It  will  serve 
to  enlarge  your  views,  and  quicken  your  faculties, 
and  animate  you  to  the  more  faithful  discharge  of 
every  part  of  your  duty.  It  will  be  a  sure  guide 
to  you  amidst  difficulties,  it  will  bring  consolation 
to  you  amidst  sorrows,  and  it  will  render  your 
dying  bed  soft  as  downy  pillows  are.     In  short   it 


260  LETTERS    TO    A    DAUG-HTER. 

is  emphatically  the  spirit  of  heaven  ;  and  if  it 
have  found  a  lodgement  in  your  heart,  it  will  ac- 
company you  thither,  and  find  its  appropriate  ele- 
ment amidst  the  harps,  and  songs,  and  hallelujahs 
jf  the  redeemed. 

Your  Ever  Devoted  Father. 


LETTER    XX 


CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE. 


My  Dear  Child,  —  It  is  the  tendency  of  the 
gospel  not  only  to  elevate  the  soul  to  God  by 
bringing  into  exercise  a  spirit  of  devotion,  but  to 
minister  directly  to  the  benefit  of  man,  by  exciting 
and  cherishing  a  spirit  of  benevolence.  The  dis- 
position, naturally  amiable  and  generous,  it  ren- 
ders still  more  so,  while  it  imparts  to  its  exercises 
a  religious  character,  by  subjecting  them  to  the 
control  of  principle  and  conscience.  The  natural- 
ly malevolent  spirit  it  subdues,  and  changes  into 
a  spirit  of  benignity  and  good  will.  It  thaws  out 
the  heart  frozen  up  by  avarice,  and  unclenches 
the  hand  which  has  been  shut  against  the  urgent 
claims  of  human  wo.  It  rebukes  an  indolent  tem- 
per, and  induces  a  habit  of  activity  by  writing 
on  the  heart  the  doctrine  of  human  obligation.  In 
short,  wherever  the  genuine  influence  of  the  gos- 
pel is  felt,  there  is  a  spirit  of  benevolence  produced 
which  prompts  irresistibly  to  a  course  of  generous 
and  useful  exertion. 


262  LETTERS     TO 

That  the  effect  of  the  gospel  upon  the  human 
character  is  as  I  have  described,  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned by  any  person  of  common  observation  or 
candor.  But  while  it  is  readily  conceded  that  it 
forms  in  the  heart  a  spirit  of  benevolence,  the  fe- 
male sex,  up  to  a  very  recent  period,  have,  by  a 
sort  of  common  consent,  been  in  a  great  measure 
kept  out  of  the  field  in  which  this  spirit  may  find 
its  legitimate  operation.  It  is  true  indeed,  that  not 
many  years  have  elapsed  since  the  church  has 
begun  to  be  aroused  to  a  sense  of  her  obligation. 
Within  considerably  less  than  half  a  century, 
nearly  the  whole  of  Protestant  Christendom  seem- 
ed to  be  acting  upon  the  conviction  that  the  evan- 
gelizing of  the  world,  instead  of  being  effected  by 
the  enlightened  and  persevering  activity  of  the 
church,  was  to  be  reserved  as  a  splendid  subject 
for  some  stupendous  miracle.  But  for  some  time 
after  the  sense  of  responsibility  began  to  be  felt, 
and  the  church  began  to  arise  and  shake  herself 
from  the  slumber  of  centuries,  it  was  still  a  problem 
in  many  minds  whether  this  were  a  proper  field  for 
the  pious  activity  of  females ;  and  there  were  not 
a  few  who  pertinaciously  maintained  that  woman 
was  out  of  her  proper  element,  the  moment  she 
emerged  from  her  retirement  into  a  scene  of  public 
benevolent  action.  It  was  indeed  her  privilege 
to  cultivate  benevolent  feelings  at  home,  and  to 


A     DAUGHTER.  263 

dispense  charity  to  the  needy  who  might  come 
to  her  door,  and  go  out  occasionally  on  an  explo- 
ring tour  of  mercy  in  her  immediate  neighborhood  ; 
but  as  for  putting  her  hand  to  the  great  work  of 
sending  the  gospel  over  the  world,  it  was  regarded 
as  something  too  bold  and  masculine  to  consist 
with  the  delicacy  of  female  character.  This  pre- 
judice, I  well  know,  is  in  a  great  measure  removed, 
insomuch  that  a  female  who  imbibes  the  actively 
benevolent  spirit  of  the  age,  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  public  opinion;  nevertheless,  I  doubt 
not  that,  even  at  this  day,  there  are  many  who 
are  kept  from  doing  what  they  might  and  what 
they  ought,  by  an  apprehension  not  unfrequently 
encouraged  by  the  false  delicacy  of  mothers,  that 
if  their  activity  is  carried  beyond  a  very  narrow 
sphere,  they  will  expose  themselves  to  the  charge 
of  being  obtrusive.  And  while  there  are  some  who 
urge  this  plea  with  sincerity,  yet  from  mistaken 
views,  no  doubt  there  are  others,  who  avail  them- 
selves of  it  merely  with  a  view  to  make  themselves 
easy  and  respectable  in  a  habit  of  indolent 
inaction. 

I  cannot  suppose  it  necessary  at  this  day  that  I 
should  attempt  an  argument  to  convince  you  that 
females  are  acting  within  their  appropriate  sphere, 
when  they  are  laboring  in  common  with  the  other 
sex  for  the  conversion  of  the   world  ;  for  I  would 


264  LETTERS     TO 

fain  hope  that  instead  of  requiring  to  be  con- 
vinced on  this  subject,  you  have  already  learned 
to  regard  it  a  privilege  and  honor  to  labor  in  this 
cause  as  God  may  give  you  opportunity.  Never- 
theless, I  admit  that  the  fact  of  your  belonging  to 
the  female  sex  is  not  to  be  overlooked  in  estima- 
ting the  part  you  are  to  bear  in  these  great  opera- 
tions There  are  eases  in  which  it  may  be  proper 
that  both  sexes  should  co-operate  in  one  association 
for  the  advancement  of  the  same  object ;  and 
in  every  instance  of  this  kind,  propriety  requires 
that  females  should  follow  rather  than  lead:  no 
matter  how  efficient  they  are,  provided  only  they 
keep  within  proper  limits,  and  are  satisfied  that 
the  business  of  directing  and  managing  should  be 
kept  in  other  hands.  But,  in  general,  I  would  re- 
commend that  the  two  sexes  should  act  for  these 
objects  in  distinct  associations;  as  females  parti- 
cularly, will  be  likely  in  this  way  to  act  with 
greater  freedom  and  efficiency.  Even  here,  you 
should  of  course  be  on  your  guard  against  assum- 
ing any  thing  that  does  not  belong  to  you  ;  though 
you  should  be  equally  cautious,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  you  do  not,  from  false  modesty,  de- 
cline any  responsibility  which  you  really  ought 
to  assume. 

That  some  of  the  great  objects  of  the  present 
day  may  enlist  the  influence  and  activity  of  females 


A     DAUGHTER.  265 

more  appropriately  than  others,  admits  not  of 
question ;  and  if  there  are  any  which  claim  their 
regard  before  all  others,  perhaps  they  are  those 
which  more  immediately  involve  the  well  being  of 
their  own  sex.  But  I  know  not  whether  there  are 
scarcely  any  of  the  common  charities  of  the  day 
in  which  females  may  not  with  strict  propriety, 
bear  a  part.  They  may  associate  for  the  circula- 
tion of  the  Bible,  for  the  distribution  of  Tracts,  for 
the  education  of  young  men  for  the  Christian 
ministry,  for  carrying  forward  missionary  opera- 
tions, or  for  any  kindred  object,  and  be  as  little  lia- 
ble to  the  charge  of  acting  out  of  their  appro- 
priate sphere,  as  if  they  were  performing  the  most 
retired  duties  of  domestic  life.  In  questions  of  mere 
political  reform,  I  do  not  think  it  the  province  of 
females  to  take  a  decided  part :  not  that  I  would 
prohibit  them  in  all  cases  from  expressing  an 
opinion,  but  I  would  object  entirely  to  any  thing 
that  even  appears  like  active  interference.  If  they 
are  to  exert  any  influence  in  this  department,  it 
should  be  of  the  most  silent  and  unobtrusive  kind. 
But  as  to  those  objects  which  relate  merel}?-  to  the 
moral  and  religious  improvement  of  the  world, 
just  so  far  as  public  sentiment  should  prevent  their 
taking  a  part,  it  would  be  chargeable  with  a 
shameful  abridgement  of  their  rights. 

In  what  I  have  already  said,  it  has  been  implied 


266  LETTERS     TO 

that  females  are  to  contribute  not  only  their  influ- 
ence but  their  substance  for  the  advancement  of 
the  Redeemer's  cause ;  inasmuch  as  the  great 
work  will  never  go  forward  without  an  immense 
amount  of  pecuniary  aid.  How  much  you  shall 
give  is  a  question  to  be  answered  by  an  enlight- 
ened conscience,  in  view  of  the  means  with  which 
God  has  blessed  you.  But  in  forming  the  esti- 
mate of  your  duty  in  this  respect,  take  heed  that 
you  are  not  misled  by  a  disposition  to  indulge  the 
pride  of  life ;  and  as  the  case  may  be,  do  not 
regard  some  little  retrenchment  from  your  per- 
sonal expenses  a  hardship,  for  the  sake  of  casting 
more  liberally  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord.  And 
while  you  should  make  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to 
give  to  the  extent  of  your  means,  you  should  also 
exercise  discretion  in  apportioning  your  contribu- 
tions to  different  objects  according  to  their  relative 
importance.  A  small  contribution  made  with  good 
judgment  as  it  respects  the  object,  the  time,  and 
the  manner,  may  be  instrumental  of  more  good 
than  a  much  larger  one  made  from  the  mere 
impulse  of  a  generous  spirit,  without  discrimina- 
tion and  without  reflection. 

In  connexion  with  the  great  benevolent  opera- 
tions of  the  age,  in  which  I  trust  you  will  never 
be  backward  to  enlist,  let  me  mention  what  may 
at   first    appear  a  somewhat    humbler    sphere  of 


A     DAUGHTER.  267 

female  usefulness.  —  I  mean  the  Sabbath  school. 
From  the  time  that  you  ceased  to  be  connected 
with  this  institution  as  a  pupil,  I  would  have  you 
connected  with  it  as  a  teacher  ;  and  if  you  dis- 
charge your  duty  faithfully,  I  may  safely  say  that 
your  labors  in  this  department  will  be  as  likely  to 
draw  after  them  a  blessing  as  in  any  other.  The 
good  which  female  influence  has  already  accom- 
plished by  means  of  this  unostentatious  institution, 
it  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  human  mind  ade- 
quately to  estimate  ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  Sabbath  schools  are  to  hold  an  important 
place  in  the  moral  machinery  by  which  the  world 
is  to  be  regenerated.  However  humble  may  seem 
the  employment  of  teaching  a  few  children  every 
Sabbath  a  lesson  from  the  sacred  scriptures,  you 
are  probably  doing  more,  at  least  in  many  cases, 
by  this  simple  exercise,  to  train  them  for  useful- 
ness and  for  heaven,  than  is  done  by  all  other 
means  united.  But  in  order  that  you  may 
accomplish  all  the  good  of  which  this  institution 
is  designed  to  be  the  medium,  take  care  that 
you  do  your  whole  duty  in  connexion  with  the 
Sabbath  school  with  scrupulous  fidelity.  Let  the 
grand  object  at  which  you  aim  be,  not  only  to 
imbue  the  minds  of  your  pupils  with  scriptural 
knowledge,  but  to  imbue  their  hearts  with  evange- 
lical   feeling;    in  short,  to   make    them    practical 


268  LETTERS     TO 

Bible  Christians.  It  is  a  mistaken  principle  upon 
which  not  only  much  of  the  instruction  of  the 
Sabbath  school,  but  of  the  family,  has  been 
conducted,  that  young  children  are  incapable  of 
being  the  subjects  of  converting  grace.  A  sounder 
doctrine  on  this  subject  is  indeed  beginning  to 
prevail ;  and  both  parents  and  Sabbath  school 
teachers  are  learning  from  experience  that  there  is 
a  more  impressive  meaning  than  they  once  sup- 
posed in  the  Saviour's  declaration  —  "  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Let  the 
instruction  that  is  communicated  in  the  Sabbath 
school  be  entirely  evangelical,  and  let  it  be  accom- 
panied from  time  to  time,  with  tender  and  solemn 
appeals  to  the  heart  and  conscience,  and  there  is 
good  reason  to  expect  that  such  a  course  of  efforts 
will  result  in  a  genuine  conversion  ;  and  let  the 
truth  still  be  impressed  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
upon  the  mind  and  heart,  and  let  there  be  direct 
counsels  and  warnings  adapted  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  and  it  is  reasonable  and  scrip- 
tural to  believe,  that  there  will  be  formed,  even  in 
the  morning  of  life,  a  stable  and  consistent  Chris- 
tian character.  It  would  seem  from  some  of  the 
prophecies,  that,  previous  to  the  opening  of  the 
millenium,  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  are  to  be 
plentifully  poured  out  for  the  conversion  of  chil- 


A    DAUGHTER.  269 

dren  and  youth ;  and  if  I  do  not  greatly  mistake 
the  signs  of  the  times,  these  prophecies  are  already 
beginning  to  be  fulfilled,  in  the  signal  success  that 
^ttends  the  Sabbath  school  institution. 

There  is  one  part  of  the  duty  of  a  Sabbath 
school  teacher,  for  which  females  are  especially 
qualified  —  that  of  finding  out  and  gathering  into 
this  nursery  of  Christian  charity  the  children  of 
the  wretched  and  destitute.  With  more  of  consti- 
tutional tenderness  than  belongs  to  the  other  sex, 
they  can  more  readily  gain  access  to  the  hearts  of 
parents,  and  are  more  likely  to  overcome  obstacles 
which  may  be  thrown  in  their  way.  And  the 
visits  which  they  make  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing in  children  from  the  haunts  of  vice  and  mis- 
ery, may,  if  properly  conducted,  in  some  instances 
at  least,  subserve  the  additional  purpose  of  com- 
municating good  impressions  to  the  parents,  and 
even  of  making  them  regular  attendants  at  the 
house  of  God.  There  have  been  repeated  in- 
stances in  which  a  young  female,  not  in  the  high- 
est walks  of  life,  by  faithfully  discharging  her 
duty  as  a  Sabbath  school  teacher,  both  in  the 
school  and  out  of  it,  has  been  honored  as  the 
instrument  of  conversion  to  a  whole  family,  and 
that  too  a  family  which  had  been  sunk  in  the  low- 
est moral  debasement.  Surely  such  facts  ought  to 
encourage  every  young  female,  who  has  it  in  her 


270  LETTERS     TO 

power,  to  engage  in  the  Sabbath  School  enterprise, 
and  to  discharge  even  those  parts  of  her  duty 
which  involve  the  most  self  denial,  with  alacrity 
and  diligence. 

Perhaps  there  has  been  no  individual  in  modern 
times  to  whom  the  church  is  more  indebted  for 
elevating  the  standard  of  benevolent  enterprise  in 
the  female  sex,  than  Harriet  Newell.  When  she 
formed  the  resolution  to  encounter  the  hardships 
of  a  missionary  life  in  a  heathen  land,  there  were 
not  wanting  those,  even  among  professed  Chris- 
tians, to  whom  the  project  seemed  like  the  off- 
spring of  fanaticism,  and  who  regarded  her,  when 
she  took  leave  of  her  country  and  kindred,  as  hav- 
ing well  nigh  parted  with  her  reason.  But  none 
of  these  things  moved  her.  With  a  firmness  and 
disinterestedness  of  purpose  which  religion  alone 
could  inspire,  she  turned  her  back  upon  all  the 
endearments  of  home,  and  after  encountering  in  a 
long  voyage  the  perils  of  the  deep,  reached  the 
anticipated  field  of  her  labors.  But  instead  of 
meeting  there  the  fatigues  and  deprivations  usu- 
ally incident  to  missionary  life,  she  found,  upon 
her  first  arrival,  that  the  hand  of  death  was  upon 
her,  and  she  was  sinking  suddenly,  though  calmly, 
to  her  rest.  But  rely  on  it,  she  did  not  cross  the 
ocean  and  make  her  grave  in  that  foreign  land  to 
no  purpose.     It  looked  at  first  like  a  dark  dispen- 


A     DAUGHTER.  271 

sation,  and  when  it  was  announced,  it  seemed  as 
if  the  whole  American  church  was  in  tears.  But 
long  since  has  the  church  been  taught  to  contem- 
plate it  as  marking  one  of  the  brightest  eras  in 
the  history  of  her  missionary  operations.  The 
example  of  this  devoted  woman  gave  a  new  im- 
pulse to  female  effort  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Multitudes  of  her  sex  have  in  imagination  visited 
her  distant  grave,  and  have  felt  their  hearts  kindle 
with  brighter  and  holier  zeal ;  and  while  some 
have  followed  her  in  the  same  enterprise,  and 
have  actually  laid  down  their  lives  on  the  same 
field,  others  have  engaged  with  renewed  activity 
in  the  cause  of  their  Kedeemer  at  home,  and  stand 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  which  the  honor  of 
his  name  may  require  of  them.  The  memory 
of  Harriet  Newell  is  embalmed  in  thousands  of 
hearts,  and  no  doubt  her  name  will  stand  on 
"  bright  record  "  through  the  ages  of  the  mille- 
nium  ;  and  will  shine  with  the  lustre  of  the  firma- 
ment when  it  shall  be  displayed  in  the  Lamb's 
book  of  life. 

I  know  not  how  to  form  a  greater  contrast  than 
must  exist  between  the  dying  bed  of  a  female  such 
as  I  have  described,  and  one  who  has  lived  only 
for  purposes  of  self  gratification.  Can  you  con- 
ceive, on  the  one  hand,  of  any  thing  more  delight- 
ful, than  to  look  back  from   a   death  bed  upon  a 


272  LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER. 

series  of  pious  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom ;  to  think  that  those  efforts 
may  have  been  instrumental  in  opening  fountains 
of  salvation  in  heathen  lands ;  to  feel  all  the  com- 
posure and  joy  which  the  approaching  dawn  of 
immortality  can  shed  over  the  heart  ;  and  to  look 
forward  to  a  crown  of  victory  studded  with  innu- 
merable gems,  in  each  of  which  you  may  recog- 
nise the  ransomed  soul  of  a  once  perishing 
heathen  ?  And  on  the  other  hand,  can  you  con- 
ceive of  any  thing  more  dreadful  than  to  review 
from  the  gates  of  the  grave  a  life  full  of  trifling 
and  vanity;  to  reflect  that  the  world  is  not  the 
better  but  the  worse  for  your  having  lived  in  it ; 
and  to  be  haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  departed  and 
misspent  years,  which  come  up  in  frightful  suc- 
cession to  give  you  a  deeper  chill  of  horror  in  the 
valley  of  death  ?  If  there  be  any  thing  alluring 
or  any  thing  appalling  in  this  contrast,  then  choose 
the  life  of  the  active  Christian,  that  you  may  share 
in  his  present  consolation,  and  reap  his  eternal  re- 
ward. 

Your  Truly  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER  XXI. 

CHRISTIAN    ZEAL. 

My    Dear  Child,  —  There  is  a  perpetual  ten- 
dency in  human  nature,  as  well  with  respect  to 
religion  as  every  thing  else,  to  rush  into  extremes. 
And   perhaps  there  is  nothing   in  which  this  ten- 
dency is  more   strikingly  manifested,  than  in  the 
disposition  to  magnify  one  part  of  Christian  cha- 
racter at  the  expense  of  another.     There  are  those 
who  make  the   whole  of  religion  consist  in  devo- 
tional fervor;   and  by  keeping  it  constantly  shut 
up  in  the  closet  they  render  it  sickly  and   ineffi- 
cient.    And   there  are   those  who  make  it  consist 
entirely  in  the  stir  of  public  action ;  who  seem  to 
regard  the  private  duties  of  the  Christian  as  some- 
what puritanical ;  which,  though  they  might  have 
been  well  enough  in  other  days,  yet,  in  the  pre- 
sent age  of  action,  have  become  in  some  measure 
outlawed.     It  hence  results  that  much  of  the  reli- 
gion that  exists  in  the  world  is  partial  ;  and  much 
of  it,  for  the  same  reason,  spurious. 

Now  what  has  happened  to  every  other  grace 


274  LETTERS     TO 

of  the  Christian  has  happened  to  zeal  —  it  has 
sometimes  been  elevated  not  only  to  a  precedence 
above  all  the  other  graces,  but  at  the  expense  of 
all  the  rest ;  as  if  it  were  the  sum  and  substance 
of  Christian  character.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  and  been  con- 
founded with  enthusiasm,  and  the  first  appearance 
of  it  has  been  a  signal  for  alarm,  as  if  the  church 
were  falling  into  a  fit  of  insanity.  I  shall  hope 
to  show  you  in  the  progress  of  this  letter,  that, 
while  true  zeal  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  a 
Christian,  it  still  leaves  room  for  the  operation  of 
other  graces  and  virtues ;  and  that  noble  and 
heavenly  as  is  the  genuine  quality,  there  may  be 
much  that  assumes  the  name,  which,  to  say  the 
least,  will  be  treated  as  wood,  hay,  and  stubble. 

Christian  zeal  may  be  defined  in  a  single  sen- 
tence as  a  sincere  and  warm  concern  for  the  glory 
of  God  and  '  the  spiritual  interest  of  mankind. 
Let  me  call  your  attention  more  particularly  to 
some  of  its  leading  attributes. 

It  can  be  scarcely  necessary  that  I  should  re- 
mark that  it  is  a  spiritual  affection.  There  is  a 
warm  glow  of  animal  feeling  which  results  entire- 
ly from  constitutional  temperament,  and  which 
there  is  great  danger,  in  certain  circumstances,  of 
mistaking  for  Christian  zeal.  If  it  happens  to  be 
directed  towards  a  good  object,  as  it  sometimes  is, 


A     DAUGHTER.  275 

it  may  actually  accomplish  great  good,  and  may 
work  its  way  through  obstacles  of  an  appalling  na- 
ture, and  will  not  improbably  shame  some  of  the 
more  feeble  operations  of  evangelical  zeal.  But 
if  the  object  at  which  it  aims  is  bad,  why  then  its 
effects  will  be  bad  too :  it  will  be  as  furious  and 
desolating  as  a  whirlwind.  It  may  be  enlisted, 
you  perceive,  in  a  good  cause  or  in  an  evil  cause  ; 
but  not  being  under  the  control  of  principle,  it  can 
never  be  trusted. 

Christian  zeal,  though  it  may  be  modified  in  its 
operations  by  constitutional  temperament,  yet  it  is 
something  entirely  distinct  from  it :  it  belongs  to 
man  only  in  his  renewed  state.  It  is  not  one  of 
the  original  qualities  which  man  receives  from 
God  the  Creator,  but  one  of  the  spiritual  gifts 
which  he  receives  from  God  the  Sanctifier.  It  is 
as  truly  a  Christian  grace  as  faith,  or  humility,  or 
love  to  God. 

It  is  another  of  its  characteristics  that  it  is  con- 
cerned about  objects  of  real  moment.  There  is  a 
zeal  which  exhausts  itself  upon  rites  and  forms, 
and  lives  in  the  region  of  airy  speculations  and 
doubtful  enterprises.  Christian  zeal,  on  the  other 
hand,  aims  directly  at  the  noblest  objects  and 
interests  in  the  universe.  It  surveys  a  world 
lying  in  wickedness,  exposed  to  God's  everlasting- 
curse  ;  it  sees  on  every  side  a   multitude  of  souls 


276  LETTERS     TO 

enthralled  by  the  prince  of  darkness,  and  liable  to 
sink  under  his  withering  frown ;  and  it  stretches 
out  the  hand  of  compassion  to  avert,  if  possible, 
the  threatening  woes  :  to  hedge  up  the  path  to 
destruction,  and  turn  the  footsteps  of  the  multi- 
tude into  the  path  of  life.  And  it  is  concerned 
for  the  glory  of  Goo  not  less  than  the  happiness 
of  man.  It  remembers  that  in  every  instance  in 
which  the  redemption  of  the  gospel  takes  effect, 
there  comes  a  revenue  of  glory  to  God  in  the 
Highest  ;  and  it  desires  to  witness  constantly 
brighter  exhibitions  of  that  glory ;  to  behold  the 
Saviour  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength, 
and  gathering  gems  to  his  mediatorial  crown. 
Yes,  it  lifts  itself  in  its  sublime  aspirations  to  the 
very  throne  of  God,  and  longs  and  labors  for  the 
advancement  of  all  the  great  and  holy  interests  of 
his  kingdom. 

Christian  zeal  is  an  enlightened  principle.  He 
who  is  under  its  influence  takes  an  intelligent 
view  of  the  great  objects  he  desires  to  see  accom- 
plished, and  deliberately  satisfies  himself  of  then- 
real  importance.  He  takes  a  similar  view  of  the 
means  to  be  employed  for  their  accomplishment, 
and  decides  that  they  are  such  as  reason,  and  con- 
science, and  God,  can  approve.  And  he  not  only 
consults  faithfully  the  oracles  of  God,  but  seeks 
direct  illumination  from  above,  that  in  every  step 


A     DAUGHTER.  277 

he  may  be  guided  by  heavenly  wisdom  ;  and  in 
the  most  fervent  operations  of  his  zeal,  he  is  never 
for  an  hour  beyond  the  dominion  of  sober  and  en- 
lightened judgment.  There  is  a  zeal  which  is  not 
according  to  knowledge  ;  which  is  blind  in  its 
operations,  and  disastrous  in  its  results.  But  I 
hardly  need  say  that  it  has  no  affinity  to  the 
genuine  Christian  grace. 

Christian  zeal  is  earnest.  It  is  not  a  mere  casual 
emotion,  so  feeble  that  it  may  exist  while  the  mind 
is  scarcely  conscious  of  it;  but  it  is  a  deep,  strong, 
settled  principle,  which  pervades  in  its  operations 
the  whole  soul,  and  awakens  the  moral  sensibili- 
ties into  lively  exercise.  The  person  who  is  under 
its  influence  has  not  only  an  intellectual  but  prac- 
tical conviction  that  the  salvation  of  sinners  and 
the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  are  matters  of 
the  deepest  moment ;  and  with  this  conviction  he 
is  earnestly  desirous  that  they  should  be  promoted  ; 
and  sometimes  cannot  even  rest  or  scarcely  suffer 
others  to  rest,  so  long  as  these  objects  are  regard- 
ed with  indifference. 

I  know  that  many  of  the  careless  world,  and 
even  some  professing  Christians,  whose  hearts  are 
bound  up  in  the  frost  of  religious  apathy,  will 
stigmatize  every  appearance  of  Christian  zeal  as 
fanaticism.  But  I  ask,  for  what  objects  it  is 
reasonable  to  be  in  earnest,  if  not  for  the  salvation 


278  LETTERS     TO 

of  men  and  the  glory  of  God  ?  When  }rou  con- 
template the  fearful  import  of  that  word  eternity, 
and  think  what  it  must  be  to  inherit  everlasting 
joys  or  to  inhabit  everlasting  burnings;  and  how 
many  there  are  on  every  side  who  are  manifestly 
rushing  toward  the  pit  —  I  ask  whether  the  lack 
of  earnestness  in  these  circumstances  would  not 
indicate  infatuation  ?  Christian  zeal  is  earnest ; 
and  this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  it  is  rational. 
It  views  things  as  they  are,  and  treats  them  accord- 
ingly. 

But  it  is  active  as  well  as  earnest.  It  is  not  un- 
common to  meet  with  a  kind  of  zeal  that  expends 
itself  in  words  ;  that  is  satisfied  with  deploring 
the  spiritual  lethargy,  or  talking  about  the  impor- 
tance of  a  revival,  or  wishing  well  to  the  benevo- 
lent enterprises  of  the  day.  It  has  a  tongue,  but 
it  seems  to  have  little  of  heart,  and  certainly  it  is 
halt  and  maimed.  Christian  zeal  can  and  does 
feel,  and  it  can  talk  too  where  there  is  occasion ; 
but  it  goes  yet  .farther  and  acts — acts  with  vigor 
and  efficiency.  He  who  has  it  comes  forward  as 
it  were  instinctively  to  the  work  of  the  Lord  ;  and 
whether  it  be  his  substance,  or  his  efforts,  or  his 
prayers,  that  are  demanded,  the  contribution  is 
made,  and  made  cheerfully.  This  is  the  spirit 
which  you  see  acted  out  in  the  lives  of  many  of  our 
missionaries,  and  even  some  of  your  own  sex,  who 


A     DAUGHTER  279 

voluntarily  surrender   all  the  blessings  of  civilized 
society,  and  make  their  home  in  a  wilderness  or  a 
heathen  land,  and  wear  life  away  in  the  most  self 
denying  efforts  for  the  salvation  of   their  fellow 
creatures.     Here  you  see  the  activity  of  Christian 
zeal ;  a  spirit  which  has  its   only  proper  element 
amidst  the  wants  and  miseries  of  this  ruined  world. 
But  notwithstanding  its  activity,  Christian  zeal 
is   humble  and   unobtrusive.     It   does  not  indeed 
shrink  from  publicity  where  there  is  just  occasion 
for   making  itself  public  ;   and  such   occasions  no 
doubt    will    often   occur ;  —  but    it    does    nothing 
merely  to  attract   observation.     Even   its   highest 
and  holiest   triumphs   are  sometimes   obtained   in 
circumstances  of  retirement ;  and  it  takes  no  pains 
to  trumpet  them,  even  if  they  are  never  heard  of 
by  the  world.     Let  the   Christian   accomplish   as 
much   by  his  zeal   as   he   may,   even  though  the 
whole    moral    region    around    him    should    smile 
under   his  influence,    he  remembers    that  by  the 
grace  of  God  he  is  what  he  is,  and  that  by  the 
ffrace    of   God    he    does   what    he    does ;    and    he 
chooses  to    give    God  all  the  glory,    and  to  sink 
down    before    him    as    an    unworthy   instrument. 
Whenever  you  see  an  individual  glorying  in  what 
he  has  himself  accomplished,  and  apparently  for- 
getting that  in  all  his  efforts  he  is  entirely  depend- 
ant on  the  influence  of  the   Spirit,  whatever  of 


280  LETTERS     TO 

apparent  zeal  there  may  be,  you  have  great  reason 
to  question  its  origin  :  you  have  reason  to  suspect 
that  instead  of  being  a  flame  kindled  from  above, 
it  is  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  or  that  it  originated  in 
a  spark  from  the  world  below. 

Christian  zeal  is  discreet,  and  has  respect  to 
circumstances.  I  do  not  mean  that  it  admits  of  a 
temporizing  policy  which  will  sacrifice  principle  ; 
nor  a  timid  policy  which  makes  one  walk  so  softly 
that  not  only  his  footsteps  are  never  heard,  but  his 
influence  is  never  felt ;  but  I  mean  that  it  is 
watchful  in  respect  to  circumstances  and  seasons, 
while  it  endeavors,  so  far  as  possible,  to  make 
every  thing  subservient  to  the  great  end  of  doing 
good.  It  does  not  make  a  Christian  regardless  of 
the  common  proprieties  of  life  ;  it  does  not  decide 
that  the  same  measures  shall  be  adopted  at  all 
times  without  regard  to  cicumstances ;  it  does 
not  sanction  the  maxim  that  the  end  justifies  the 
means,  or  that  it  is  no  matter  whether  we  obey 
the  directions  in  God's  word  or  not,  provided  only 
the  object  we  have  in  view  is  attained  ;  —  no,  the 
dictates  of  Christian  zeal  are  far  enough  from  all 
this  :  while  it  inspires  firmness,  and  fearlessness, 
and  unyielding  resolution,  it  dictates  a  spirit  of 
caution,  lest  by  some  ill  directed  effort  the  cause 
should  be  injured.  The  grand  object  it  has  in 
view  is  to  accomplish  the  utmost  good  by  the  very 


A     DAUGHTER.  281 

means  which  God  has  prescribed  ;  and  rather  than 
lose  sight  of  that  object,  it  will  consent  to  be  nick- 
named apathy,  or  worldly  prudence,  or  any  other 
opprobrious  epithet  which  may  be  applied  to  it. 

Christian  zeal  is  affectionate.  The  person  who 
is  animated  by  it  will  not  indeed  shrink  from  the 
most  self  denying  duties.  One  of  the  most  self 
denying,  in  many  cases,  is  that  of  expostulating 
with  ungodly  friends  in  respect  to  their  salvation  ; 
but  true  zeal  will  carry  a  person  forward  to  the 
discharge  of  this,  even  in  the  most  embarrassing 
circumstances.  But  while  it  will  cause  him  to 
deal  honestly  and  faithfully,  it  will  breath  into  his 
counsels  and  warnings  the  genuine  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian tenderness  ;  and  he  will  show  by  his  whole 
manner  that  in  all  that  he  does  he  is  influenced 
by  feelings  of  benevolence  and  compassion  ;  by 
an  earnest  desire  to  deliver  the  individual  from 
the  greatest  possible  evils,  and  to  confer  upon  biiu 
the  greatest  possible  blessings.  And  let  me  say 
that  the  tenderness  of  Christian  zeal  does  more  to 
render  it  efficient  than  almost  any  other  attribute. 
It  is  this  especially  which  opens  a  way  into  the 
heart  for  the  entrance  of  divine  truth ;  which 
often  gains  a  complete  triumph,  where  the  mere 
energy  of  zeal  would  accomplish  nothing. 

Christian  zeal  is  consistent.  It  is  a  truly  pain- 
ful exhibition,  where  we  see  professing  Christians 


282  LETTERS     TO 

acting  earnestly,  and  apparently  feeling  deeply,  in 
reference  to  some  one  object,  and  manifesting  an 
entire  apathy  in  regard  to  others  of  equal  import- 
ance. There  are  those  for  instance  who  manifest 
great  zeal  in  promoting  the  benevolent  operations 
of  the  day,  who  yet  take  no  interest  in  seeing 
religion  revived  in  their  immediate  neighborhood. 
There  are  those  again  who  seem  to  be  ever  awake 
to  the  importance  of  a  revival,  who  are  shamefully 
negligent  in  respect  to  their  own  families  ;  and 
communicate  far  less  religious  instruction  to  their 
children  than  some  parents  who  make  no  preten- 
sions to  piety.  And  there  are  those  (though  the 
fact  may  seem  almost  incredible)  who  always 
make  conscience  of  being  present  at  every  social 
meeting,  and  are  ever  ready  to  take  part  in  its 
exercises,  who  yet  have  very  little  to  do  with  their 
ovvn  closets,  and  attend  with  great  irregularity 
upon  family  devotion.  Now  all  this  partial  zeal, 
to  say  the  least,  looks  suspicious.  True  Christian 
zeal  differs  from  this,  inasmuch  as  it  directs  itself 
to  the  whole  circle  of  Christian  duties.  He  who 
is  under  its  influence,  is  indeed  zealous  for  the 
promotion  of  the  bevevolent  enterprises  of  the  day, 
but  tiiis  does  not  prevent  him  from  taking  a  deep 
interest  in  a  revival  of  religion.  He  is  zealous  in 
co-operating  with  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  salva- 
tion of  sinners  around  him  ;  but  this  does  not  at  all 


A     DAUGHTER. 


283 


interfere  with  his  desires  and  efforts  to  advance 
the  spiritual  interests  of  his  own  family.  He  is 
zealous  for  supporting  religious  meetings,  not 
only  by  his  presence,  but  so  far  as  he  is  able,  by 
his' direct  aid;  but  he  is  not  the  less  careful  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  the  closet  regularly  and 
devoutly,  remembering  that  if  the  closet  is  neg- 
lected, all  the  noise  and  stir  he  may  make  about 
revivals,  or  in  connexion  with  revivals,  is  mere 
religious  dissipation.  He  is  zealous  in  all  the 
relations  of  life.  As  a  parent  he  is  zealous  for 
the  salvation  of  his  children.  As  a  neighbor,  he 
is  zealous  for  those  around  him.  As  a  member  of 
the  church,  he  is  zealous  for  its  prosperity.  As  a 
creature  of  God,  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  his 
Son,  he  is  zealous  for  the  promotion  of  his  glory. 
This  is  the  consistencij  of  Christian  zeal  —  another 
attribute  which  imparts  to  it  much  of  its  loveliness 
and  of  its  power. 

And  to  crown  all,  Christian  zeal  is  persevering. 
It  is  too  much  the  fashion  of  the  age  to  wake  up 
and  be  very  active,  and  perhaps  even  boisterous 
for  a  little  season,  and  then  to  relapse  quietly  into 
the  slumber  of  death  ;  as  if  during  this  season  of 
excitement  some  work  of  supererogation  had  been 
performed,  by  means  of  which  had  been  purchased 
the  privilege  of  a  dispensation  from  all  religious 
feeling  ancf  action,  at  least  for  a  considerable   pe- 


284 


LETTERS     TO 


riod.  And  then  begins  the  round  of  worldliness, 
and  of  gaiety,  and  of  communion  with  those  scenes 
which  are  fitted  to  make  the  cause  of  religion 
bleed  ;  and  here  is  presented  to  the  world  —  to  a 
world  which  would  gladly  find  a  stumbling  block 
in  every  professor  —  the  sad  spectacle  of  a  pro- 
fessed disciple  of  Christ,  who  was  lately  seen  ap- 
parently burning  with  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
souls,  as  dead  as  a  tenant  of  the  grave.  I  stop 
not  to  inquire  what  must  be  the  effect  of  such  an 
example — I  only  say  that  this  is  not  the  zeal 
which  the  Bible  requires  ;  and  though  I  dare  not 
say  that  true  Christian  zeal,  owing  to  the  im- 
perfection of  human  nature,  may  not  be  in  some 
degree  fluctuating,  yet  just  in  proportion  as  it  has 
this  character,  it  becomes  justly  liable  to  suspicion. 
The  zeal  which  is  according  to  knowledge,  and 
which  is  one  of  the  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is 
a  flame  which  holds  on,  and  holds  out,  and  burns 
brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day. 

Though  I  have  dwelt  at  so  much  length  on  the 
nature  of  Christian  zeal,  I  am  unwilling  to  dismiss 
the  subject  without  suggesting  a  few  things  to  en- 
force its  importance. 

Let  me  say  then  that  it  is  important  as  it  stands 
connected  with  the  evidence  of  personal  piety.  It 
is  not  easy,  I  acknowledge,  to  say  to  what  extent 
an  individual  may  be   deficient  in  this  grace,  and 


A     DAUGHTER.  285 

yet  be  a  true  Christian  ;  but  that  some  degree  of  it 
is  essential  to  Christian  character,  admits  of  no 
question  ;  and  if  you  possess  it  in  only  a  feeble 
measure,  so  that  its  existence  shall  be  a  matter  of 
doubt,  your  evidences,  to  say  the  least,  must  be 
far  from  being  satisfactory.  You  may  be  saved  at 
the  last,  but  you  cannot  consistently  indulge  more 
than  a  faint  and  trembling  hope  of  salvation.  Do 
you  desire  to  have  bright  evidence  that  you  are  to 
dwell  with  God  forever  ?  Then  rise  up  to  a  high 
tone  of  Christian  zeal. 

But  this  grace  has  much  to  do  with  religious 
enjoyment.  This  indeed  may  be  inferred  from 
the  remark  already  made  ;  for  the  Christian's  en- 
joyment is  so  intimately  connected  with  his  evi- 
dences, that  whatever  obscures  the  latter,  must,  in 
the  same  degree,  diminish  the  former.  But  the 
point  to  which  I  here  especially  refer,  is,  that 
Christian  zeal  is  necessary  to  the  free  and  comfort- 
able discharge  of  duty.  Without  it  I  know  it 
is  possible  to  go  through  around  of  external  duties, 
to  be  in  the  church,  and  the  prayer  meeting,  and 
even  in  the  closet,  at  stated  seasons,  and  occasion- 
ally to  drop  a  word  of  warning  upon  the  ear  of  a 
sinner,  and  put  forth  a  hand  to  move  forward  the 
great  moral  machinery  of  the  age ;  but  it  will  be 
more  like  a  reluctant  service  rendered  to  a  task 
master,  than  the  cheerful  homage  of  filial  affection. 


286 


LETTERS     TO 


On  the  other  hand,  let  the  heart  glow  with  Chris- 
tian zeal,  and  the  hands  will  of  course  be  nerved 
for  Christian  effort ;  even  the  most  difficult  duties 
will  become  easy,  and  the  most  appalling  obstacles 
will  vanish.  Whoever  then  would  perform  the 
duties  and  endure  the  trials  of  the  religious  life 
with  ease  and  comfort,  must  become  richly  imbued 
with  Christian  zeal. 

And  this  grace  is  not  less  essential  to  the  Chris- 
tian's usefulness  than  his  enjoyment.  For  without 
zeal  or  with  little  of  it,  supposing  him  to  be  a 
Christian,  how  limited  will  be  the  good  which  he 
will  accomplish  !  Admitting  that  he  is  to  be  saved 
himself,  yet  perhaps  not  a  single  soul  will  be  saved 
by  his  instrumentality.  Who  is  the  individual  that 
exerts  an  influence  in  raising  the  tone  of  public 
morals,  by  purifying  and  elevating  public  senti- 
ment ?  It  is  he  whose  heart  is  fired  with  Chris- 
tian zeal.  Who  is  the  person  to  be  instrumental 
in  producing  or  sustaining  a  revival  of  religion  ; 
or  in  sending  the  gospel  abroad  to  the  destitute  ;  or 
in  carrying  forward  any  of  the  high  and  holy  ope- 
rations connected  with  the  kingdom,  of  Christ  ? 
It  is  the  Christian  who  is  full  of  holy  zeal.  And 
who  are  they  who  in  coming  years  are  to  be  honor- 
ed with  the  chief  instrumentality  in  the  conversion 
of  the  world  ?  Who  are  they  that  will  be  greeted 
as  having  done  most  for  Christ  when  the  glories 


A     DAUGHTER.  287 

of  the  millennial  morning  shall  be  spread  over  the 
earth?  I  tell  you,  they  are  your  truly  zealous 
Christians ; —  men  and  women  who  were  not  afraid 
of  being  bold  lest  they  should  be  accounted  rash, 
or  prudent  lest  they  should  be  accounted  timid,  or 
earnest  lest  they  should  be  called  fanatics.  If  you 
desire  to  have  a  part  in  bringing  God's  glorious 
purposes  to  their  accomplishment  —  if  you  desire 
to  escape  the  doom  of  the  slothful  servant,  and  to 
appear  at  last  to  have  lived  for  the  benefit  of  your 
fellow  creatures,  and  the  glory  of  God  — be  fer- 
vently zealous  in  the  Redeemer's  cause. 

I  will  only  add  that  this  grace  is  important  as  it 
stands  connected  with  the  Christian's  final  reward. 
True  it  is  that  reward  is  of  grace,  and  not  of  debt. 
Even  the  brightest  crown  that  shall  sparkle  through 
all  the  ranks  of  the  redeemed,  will  be  altogether 
the  purchase  of  the  Redeemer's  blood,  and  in  no 
sense  the  earnings  of  human  merit.  Nevertheless, 
the  crowns  of  heaven  will  be  distributed  according 
to  what  each  has  been  and  done  in  the  service  of 
Christ.  That  Christian  who  has  been  actuated 
during  a  whole  life  by  a  glowing  zeal  for  the  sal- 
vation of  men,  and  the  honor  of  the  Redeemer, 
will  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  while 
the  more  sluggish  Christian  will  be  saved  so  as  by 
fire.  Do  you  desire  then  not  only  to  inhabit  the 
world  of  glory,  but  to  rise  to  a  high  place  in  that 


288  LETTERS    TO    A    DAUGHTER. 

world  ?  Would  you  stand  near  the  throne  of  God, 
and  shout  the  praises  of  redemption  in  the  loudest, 
sweetest,  holiest  strains  that  vibrate  around  the 
arch  of  heaven  ?  Would  you  aspire  to  an  intimate 
companionship  with  angels,  and  to  all  the  purity 
and  bliss  of  which  your  nature  is  susceptible  ?  I 
say  again,  let  your  heart  and  your  life  furnish  a 
perpetual  exhibition  of  living,  glowing,  efficient 
zeal. 

I  AM,  AS  EVER,  YOUR  DEVOTED  FATHER. 


LETTER    XXII. 

IMPROVEMENT    OF    TIME. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  The  subject  upon  which  I 
am  now  to  address  you,  may  be  considered  as  in- 
cluding in  a  general  sense,  much  to  which  I  have 
already  directed  your  attention  ;  for  you  will  in- 
stantly perceive  that,  as  your  time  is  given  you  to 
be  filled  up  with  the  discharge  of  duty,  so  the 
right  improvement  of  it  must  involve  a  faithful 
attention  to  all  the  duties  connected  with  your 
various  relations.  The  general  subject  however 
is  of  so  much  importance  that  I  do  not  feel  will- 
ing to  pass  it  over  without  bringing  it  distinctly 
before  you. 

There  is  a  fashion  which  prevails  too  exten- 
sively among  all  classes,  of  killing  time  ;  and  as 
this  is  an  evil  into  which  many  persons,  and  even 
many  professing  Christians,  fall  without  being 
aware  of  it,  it  may  not  be  amiss  that  I  should  put 
you  on  your  guard,  by  mentioning  some  of  the 
ways  in  which  life  is  frittered  away  without  the 
accomplishment  of  its  object. 
19 


290  LETTERS     TO 

One  very  effectual  means  of  killing  time  is  by 
sleep.  It  is  true  indeed  that  a  certain  degree  of 
sleep  is  necessary  alike  to  the  physical  and  intel- 
lectual constitution  :  it  is  the  kind  restorer  of  the 
human  faculties  from  a  state  of  exhaustion ;  and 
is  an  evidence  alike  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God.  No  doubt  also  an  individual  may  err  in 
taking  too  little  repose  ;  as  he  may  thus  not  only 
abridge  his  period  of  usefulness,  but  his  amount 
of  exertion  during  that  period :  for  if  he  bring  to 
his  work  (no  matter  what  it  is)  faculties  that  have 
lost  their  elasticity  through  the  want  of  sleep,  he 
may  indeed  keep  himself  busy,  but  there  is  reason 
to  fear  that  he  will  be  busied  in  a  way  that  will 
be  little  better  than  killing  time.  But  the  error  to 
which  I  designed  here  to  refer,  is  that  of  excessive 
indulgence  in  sleep.  And  the  evil  of  this  in 
respect  to  the  loss  of  time  is  twofold  :  not  only  the 
time  which  is  occupied  by  sleep  is  lost,  but  the 
mind  acquires  a  habit  of  drowsiness  or  indolence, 
which  greatly  abates  the  vigor  of  all  its  opera- 
tions. That  different  constitutions  may  require  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  rest  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  how 
much  is  necessary  in  any  given  case  is  to  be  ascer- 
tained only  by  experiment ;  and  every  one  ought 
to  make  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  consume  as 
little  time  in  this  way  as  is  consistent  with  the 
most  healthful  and  vigorous  state  of  the  faculties. 


A    DAUGHTER. 


291 


Another  means  not  less  effectual  of  killing  time, 
is  the    indulgence    of   a   wandering    imagination. 
It  is  an  employment  to    which    some    minds    are 
exceedingly  attached,    to  suffer  their  thoughts  to 
wander   uncontrolled,  in  any  direction  they  may 
happen   to    take.     Sometimes    they  may  fall  into 
one  channel,  and  sometimes  into  another  ;  hut  let 
them  assume  whatever  course  they  may,  no  effort 
is  made  to   direct  or  restrain  them.     To  say  no- 
thing of  the  fact  that  where  such  a  habit  exists, 
there    must   be   many  trains    of    thought    which 
could  not  be  uttered  without   an   offence   to    the 
purity  and  even  the  decorum  of  virtue,   there   can 
be  no  doubt  that  nearly  all  these  operations   of  the 
mind  partake  deeply  of  vanity,  and  are  unworthy 
of  an  accountable    and    immortal   being.     At  the 
same  time,  useless  and  sinful  as  this  employment 
is    in   itself,  it  occupies  the  fleeting  moments  of 
man's  probation  — moments  that  were  given  him 
to  prepare  for  eternity. 

I  may  instance  vain  conversation  as  another 
means  of  frittering  away  time.  The  social  prin- 
ciple which  was  implanted  for  the  most  important 
purposes,  is  too  often  brought  into  operation  for 
purposes  which  God,  and  reason  and  conscience, 
unitedly  condemn;  But  to  say  nothing  of  the 
more  flagrant  vices  of  the  tongue,  who  does  not 
know  how  strong  is  the  tendency,  I  may  say,  in 


292  LETTERS     TO 

most  persons,  to  indulge  in  idle  and  frivolous  dis- 
course ?  Such  a  habit  is  exceedingly  fitted  to 
dissipate  the  mind  ;  but  the  least  you  can  say  of  it 
is,  that  it  is  attended  by  a  criminal  waste  of  time. 
It  is  robbing  one's  own  understanding  and  heart : 
it  is  robbing  God. 

And  the  same  evil  is  accomplished  by  light  and 
foolish  reading.  I  have  elsewhere  dwelt  so  much 
upon  this,  that  I  allude  to  it  here  only  as  it  stands 
connected  with  the  loss  of  time.  And  there  are 
no  persons  probably  who  are  more  liable  to  fall 
into  this  error  than  young  females.  Many  of 
them  will  even  consent  to  deprive  themselves  of 
sleep  for  the  sake  of  going  through  with  some 
ridiculous  love-story,  or  following  out  the  fortunes 
of  some  imaginary  hero,  as  they  are  depicted  in 
a  novel.  If  you  should  ever  find  yourself  engaged 
in  this  miserable  employment,  just  pause,  at  least 
long  enough  to  inquire  of  your  conscience  whether 
that  be  the  purpose  for  which  your  precious  time 
was  given  you. 

But  if  you  would  do  your  whole  duty  on  this 
subject,  you  must  not  only  avoid  the  evil  of  which 
I  have  been  speaking,  but  you  must  actually  use 
your  time  to  the  best  advantage.  Here  again, 
suffer  me  to  give  you  two  or  three  directions. 

Be  careful  that  your  time  is  employed  upon 
objects  of  real  utility.     It  is  possible  that  an  indi- 


A     DAUGHTER.  293 

vidual  may  be  very  active,  and  in  a  certain  way- 
may  bring  much  to  pass,  and  yet  after  all  may 
have  no  good  account  to  render  of  his  time,  inas- 
much as  it  has  been  bestowed  upon  objects  of 
little  or  no  moment.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
object  to  which  your  efforts  are  directed  should 
not  directly  interfere  with  the  interests  of  any  of 
your  fellow  creatures,  or  that  it  should  exert  no 
positively  bad  influence  upon  yourself:  it  should 
be  something  from  which  you  or  they  may  reap 
some  positive  advantage.  In  selecting  a  sphere  in 
which  to  occupy  your  time,  you  ought  indeed  to 
have  respect  to  your  peculiar  talents ;  but  you 
should  be  certain  that  it  is  a  sphere  of  real  use- 
fulness. 

If  you  would  use  your  time  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, I  hardly  need  say  that  you  must  form  a 
habit  of  persevering  diligence.  This  is  essential, 
not  only  because  you  thus  crowd  into  a  given 
period  the  greatest  amount  of  useful  exertion,  but 
because  the  faculties  are  thereby  improved,  and 
rendered  capable  of  more  vigorous  and  successful 
exercise.  Make  it  a  rule,  therefore,  never  to  allow 
yourself  to  be  idle,  when  your  health  and  circum- 
stances will  permit  you  to  be  active.  If  you  once 
form  an  industrious  habit,  you  will  never  after- 
wards be  able  to  content  yourself  in  a  state  of 
inactivity ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  if   you  begin 


2£4  LETTERS     TO 

life  with  a  habit  of  indolence,  you  will  probably 
never  after  acquire  a  relish  for  vigorous  exertion. 
In  whatever  circumstances  Providence  may  place 
you,  take  care  that  the  whole  of  your  time  be  em- 
ployed :  and  consider  the  first  inroads  of  indolence 
as  a  melancholy  harbinger  of  the  wreck  of  your 
usefulness,  and  the  loss  of  your  reputation. 

There  is  one  caution  however  which  I  would 
suggest  in  connexion  with  this  point — it  is  that 
you  should  never  suffer  yourself  to  be  in  a  hurry. 
Let  the  demands  upon  your  time  be  ever  so  nume- 
rous, endeavor  to  keep  your  mind  perfectly  com- 
posed, and  address  yourself  to  your  various  avoca- 
tions as  calmly  as  if  you  were  insensible  of  their 
pressure.  The  moment  you  become  agitated  by 
care,  you  well  nigh  lose  the  power  of  doing  any 
thing  to  purpose.  Your  thoughts  under  such  an 
influence,  will  fly  off  to  the  winds,  and  a  distracted 
state  of  feeling  will  ensue,  which  will  effectually 
palsy  every  effort.  Be  as  diligent  as  your  health 
will  admit,  but  never  suffer  your  exertions  to  be 
embarrassed  by  the  apprehension  that  you  have 
more  on  your  hands  than  you  shall  be  able  to  ac- 
complish. 

And  this  leads  me  to  say  that  very  much  will 
depend  on  your  having  your  duties,  so  far  as 
possible,  reduced  to  system.  There  is  a  way 
which  many  good  people  have  of  taking  things  at 


A     DAUGHTER.  295 

random  ;  seeming  to  be  satisfied,  if  they  are  only 
in  a  field  of  usefulness,  whether  they  are  laboring 
to  the  best  advantage  or  not.  Instead  of  taking  a 
deliberate  survey  of  the  field  into  which  they  are 
cast,  and  the  various  duties  which  devolve  upon 
them,  and  assigning  to  each  set  of  duties  an  appro- 
priate  time,  they  take  every  thing  as  it  happens  to 
rise ;  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  not  unfrequently 
find  themselves  overwhelmed  by  such  an  accumu- 
lation of  cares,  that  they  are  in  precisely  the  state 
of  whi-h  I  have  just  spoken —  they  know  not  to 
which  duty  to  give  the  precedence.  If  you  take 
care  to  cultivate  order  in  the  discharge  of  your  du- 
ties, you  will  not  only  accomplish  more,  and  ac- 
complish it  with  greater  ease,  but  there  will  grow 
out  of  it  a  beautiful  consistency  of  character, 
which  will  of  itself  be  an  important  means  of  use- 
fulness. 

If  you  need  motives  to  urge  you  to  the  faithful 
improvement  of  your  time,  let  me  remind  you  of 
your  responsibility  to  God.  Your  time  is  one  of 
the  talents  which  he  has  entrusted  to  you,  and  for 
which  he  will  ere  long  call  you  to  an  account. 
Each  moment  is  part  of  the  precious  deposit ; 
and  it  bears  its  report  for  or  against  you  to  the 
bar  of  your  final  judge.  Remember  that  he 
requires  that  your  whole  time  should  be  spent  in 
his  service,  and  to  his  glory.     If  you  would  meet 


296 


LETTERS     TO 


him  to  render  an  account  of  your  stewardship  with 
confidence  and  joy,  see  to  it  that  you  practically 
recognise  his  claim,  and  live  under  an  abiding 
sense  of  your  obligation. 

Kecollect  too  that  the  improvement  of  your  time 
is  immediately  connected  with  the  improvement  of 
all  your  other  talents.  If  your  time  is  wasted,  so 
also  is  the  vigor  of  your  intellect ;  your  powers  of 
speech  are  perverted  ;  your  moral  and  religious 
privileges  abused  ;  and  your  whole  influence  turned 
into  an  improper  channel.  If  you  waste  your 
whole  time,  you  of  course  throw  yourself  into  a 
current  that  will  bear  you  rapidly  to  perdition: 
just  in  proportion  as  you  waste  your  time,  you  ac- 
cumulate materials  for  a  fearful  reckoning,  and  if 
you  are  a  professed  Christian,  you  render  it  proba- 
ble that  your  hope  will  be  as  the  giving  up  of  the 
ghost. 

Remember  further,  that  the  time  is  short. 
Should  your  life  be  protracted  to  the  period  of 
old  age,  you  will  say,  at  its  close,  that  it  was  only 
"  as  a  watch  of  the  night,  as  a  dream  when  one 
awaketh."  But  of  this  you  can  have  no  assurance  ; 
and  the  only  conclusion  which  analogy  warrants  is, 
that  you  will  probably  not  reach  an  advanced 
period.  And  need  I  say  that  even  now  some  of 
your  last  moments  may  be  on  the  wing  ?     Has  the 


A     DAUGHTER 


297 


improvement  of  your  past  life  been  such  that  you 
can  review  it  with  peace  aud  approbation  ? 

But  after  death  is  the  judgment.  When  time  is 
past,  then  comes  eternity;  and  your  improvement 
of  the  one  must  lay  a  foundation  for  your  condi- 
tion in  the  other.  "With  this  solemn  thought,  I 
take  leave  of  the  subject,  earnestly  praying  that 
your  time  may  be  spent  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
shall  be  good  for  you  and  for  others  that  you   have 

lived. 

Your  Affectionate  Father. 


LETTER  XXIII. 

PREPARATION    FOR    DEATH. 

My  Dear  Child,  —  There  is  scarcely  any  thing 
in  human  experience  which  at  first  view  strikes 
the  mind  as  so  difficult  to  be  accounted  for, 
as  the  utter  insensibility  which  the  mass  of  man- 
kind manifest  on  the  subject  of  death.  That 
death  is  an  event  of  most  solemn  and  momentous 
import,  whether  it  be  regarded  in  its  physical  or 
its  moral  bearings,  no  rational  mind  can  question. 
Nature  herself  renders  a  testimony  to  this  truth  in 
that  shrinking  and  shuddering  which  the  spirit 
feels,  when  it  is  actually  entering  into  communion 
with  this  king  of  terrors.  But  who  with  an  eye 
upon  the  world,  can  fail  to  perceive  that  this  event 
is  but  little  thought  of;  and  though  the  grave 
itself  is  continually  speaking  forth  its  rebuke 
to  human  thoughtlessness  and  infatuation,  and 
though  friendship  strong  and  tender  in  death, 
often  pours  out  its  earnest  expostulations  to  the 
living  to  prepare  to  die,  yet  the  mass  of  the  world 
slumber  on  till  they  are  startled  by  the  footsteps  of 


LETTERS     TO     A     DAUGHTER.  299 

that  messenger  whose  mandate  they  cannot  resist. 
This  surely  is  not  wisdom.  It  shows  the  despe- 
rate madness  of  the  human  heart.  It  shows  that 
man  is  guilty,  that  he  is  afraid  to  hold  communion 
with  the  future,  to  enter  into  the  secret  chambers 
of  his  own  soul,  and  ponder  the  prospect  of  a 
retribution. 

But  if  the  great  majority  of  mankind  manifest 
an  absolute  aversion  to  the  contemplation  of  death, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  even  those  who 
profess  to  be  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  to  regard 
death  as  gain,  do  not  live  as  might  be  expected  in 
view  of  it.  They  think  of  it  too  little,  converse 
about  it  too  little,  prepare  for  it  too  little.  Here 
again,  the  secret  of  this  is,  that  they  love  this 
world  too  well,  and  even  though  they  are  partially 
sanctified,  they  have  too  little  sympathy  with  the 
objects,  and  interests,  and  glories  of  the  world 
which  the  eye  of  faith  sees  beyond  it. 

There  is  a  preparation  for  death  which  de- 
volves upon  the  unforgiven  sinner,  of  mighty  im- 
port. There  is  charged  against  him  in  the  book 
of  God's  remembrance  an  awful  catalogue  of 
crimes,  which  he  can  do  nothing  in  the  way  of 
merit  to  expiate.  His  heart  is  the  seat  of  corrupt 
propensities  and  affections,  which  render  him 
utterly  incapable  of  the  joys  of  holiness.  If  he 
die  with  this  character,  nothing  awaits   him  but 


300  LETTERS     TO 

that  indignation  and  wrath  which  the  Bible  has 
denounced  upon  the  ungodly.  His  preparation 
for  death  therefore  must  consist  in  having  his 
offences  cancelled  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  his 
heart  renewed  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ;  —  in 
other  words,  in  a  compliance  with  the  requisitions 
of  the  gospel,  by  repentance  towards  God  and 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  These  requisi- 
tions once  obeyed,  he  is  in  the  most  important 
sense  prepared  to  die.  It  is  not  indeed  certain 
that  he  will  die  triumphantly  or  even  die  peace- 
fully :  for  he  is  yet  but  a  babe  in  Christ  ;  but  it  is 
as  certain  as  the  testimony  of  the  Highest  can 
make  it,  that  he  will  die  to  live  and  reign  with  the 
Redeemer  on  his  throne  forever. 

There  is  also  a  preparation  for  death,  though  of 
a  somewhat  modified  character,  that  devolves 
upon  the  Christian.  For  notwithstanding  the 
soul  which  has  once  experienced  the  transform- 
ing power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  sealed  to  the  day 
of  redemption,  yet  it  has  still  much  of  remaining 
corruption  to  struggle  with,  and  is  far  from  being 
adorned  with  the  beauty  of  perfect  holiness. 
With  the  Christian  then  preparation  for  death 
consists  not  merely  in  possessing  a  principle  of 
grace,  but  in  keeping  it  in  lively  exercise  ;  not 
merely  in  being  able  to  recur  to  seasons  in  which 
the  love  of  Christ  was  shed  abroad  in  his  heart, 


A     DAUGHTER.  301 

but  to  feel  the  precious  influence  of  this  love  daily 
and  habitually.  It  is  true,  as  I  have  said,  that 
everv  believer  dies  a  safe  death  ;  but  it  is  not  true 
that  every  one  dies  in  the  exercise  of  a  triumphant 
and  elevated  faith  ;  and  some,  no  doubt,  as  a  chas- 
tisement for  their  neglect  of  duty,  are  left  to  die 
under  a  cloud  ;  and  perhaps  are  in  actual  horror, 
till  they  emerge  from  the  cloud  which  their  own 
guilt  has  spread  over  them,  into  the  bright  light  of 
an  everlasting  day.  Every  believer  ought,  every 
believer  may,  avoid  the  evil  of  dying  in  darkness. 
Let  him  keep  his  lamps  trimmed  and  burning, 
and  his  passage  through  the  valley  of  death  will 
brighten  into  a  scene  of  heavenly  illumination. 

You  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
infinite  moment  that  you  are  prepared  to  die ;  — 
prepared  in  such  a  sense  that  the  thought  of  death 
shall  never  be  unwelcome,  and  the  approach  of 
it,  however  unexpected,  instead  of  filling  you 
with  alarm,  shall  be  hailed  as  the  harbinger  of 
heavenly  glory.  I  am  sure  that  you  aim  at 
something  higher  than  even  to  die  safely :  you 
desire  that  your  death  may  speak  forth  the  all-sus- 
taining power  of  the  gospel ;  —  that  in  dying  you 
may  bring  some  honor  tc  Him  whose  death  is  the 
price  of  all  your  hopes  and  joys,  of  your  entire 
redemption.     Let  me  then  give  you  two  or  three 


302  LETTERS     TO 

brief  directions    to  aid  you  in  making   this  most 
desirable  attainment. 

Meditate  frequently  and  solemnly  upon  death. 
If  it  comes  up  before  the  mind  only  occasionally, 
and  at  distant  intervals,  the  certain  consequence 
will  be  that  it  will  be  regarded  with  chilling 
apprehension ;  and  your  thoughts  will  be  likely 
to  fly  from  it,  even  though  reason  and  conscience 
strive  to  Retain  them.  Let  no  day,  especially  let 
no  evening  pass,  which  does  not  witness  to  your 
visiting  in  thought  the  grave.  Endeavor  to 
become  familiar  with  this  subject  in  its  various 
parts  and  bearings.  Meditate  on  the  certainty  of 
the  change  ;  on  the  nearness  of  its  approach ;  on 
the  circumstances  which  will  probably  attend  it ; 
—  the  parting  with  friends,  the  dropping  of  the 
earthly  tabernacle,  the  pains,  the  groans,  the 
dying  strife,  which  may  be  crowded  into  the  last 
hour  ;  on  the  amazing  scenes  which  must  open 
upon  the  spirit  the  moment  death  has  done  its 
work,  and  on  the  riches  of  that  grace  which  se- 
cures to  the  believer  a  complete  victory  in  his 
conflict,  and  a  triumphant  entrance  into  heaven. 
Let  this  course  of  meditation  be  conducted  in  the 
most  practical  manner  possible  ;  let  it  all  come 
home  to  your  own  bosom  as  a  matter  of  personal 
concern ;  and  the  effect  of  it  will  be  to  make  the 
world  appear  in  its  true  light,  and  to  transfer  from 


A      DAUGHTER.  303 

time  to  time  some  new  affections  from  earth  to 
heaven. 

Beware  of  the  world.  Beware  of  its  seductive 
flatteries,  its  pestilential  maxims,  its  unhallowed 
practices.  Remember  that  the  spirit  of  the  world 
is  directly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel;  and 
that  both  cannot  find  a  permanent  lodgement  in 
the  same  bosom.  If  the  world  attempt  to  seduce 
you  by  its  smiles,  dally  not  with  the  tempter  for  a 
moment.  If  it  attempt  by  its  frowns  to  wither 
your  good  purposes  and  bring  you  into  subjection. 
in  the  strength  of  Almighty  grace  march  forward 
to  the  conflict,  and  the  world  will  retire  and  leave 
you  the  victory.  Have  as  little  to  do  with  the 
grovelling  and  polluted  scenes  of  earth  as  you 
can,  in  consistency  with  your  duty.  Rise  a  ove 
the  world,  and  try  to  breathe  the  atmosphere  of 
heaven.  Thus  you  will  use  it  as  not  abusing  it; 
and  all  you  have  to  do  with  it,  instead  of  retard- 
ing, will  actually  advance  your  preparation  for 
the  grave. 

And  instead  of  multiplying  directions  on  this 
subject,  I  may  say  all  in  one  word,  if  you  would 
be  prepared  to  die,  cultivate  a  spirit  of  devoted 
piety.  Aim  constantly  at  the  fulness  of  the  stature 
of  a  perfect  person  in  Christ.  Let  every  Chris- 
tian grace  be  in  you  and  abound  ;  endeavor  to  let 
it  be  in  you  in  its  utmost  perfection.     Give  to  the 


304  LETTERS     TO    . 

Saviour  the  unreserved  homage  of  your  heart,  and 
the  entire  obedience  of  your  life.  Follow  him 
through  good  report  and  bad  report,  and  count  it 
a  joy  and  an  honor  to  bear  his  cross.  Let  your 
soul  always  be  a  temple  for  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
be  filled  with  the  fulness  of  God.  Such  a  life 
constitutes  true  preparation  for  death.  Live  thus, 
and  you  will  have  nothing  to  do  in  your  last  hour, 
but  to  resign  your  spirit  into  your  Redeemer's 
hands,  and  die  rejoicing. 

With  these  brief  directions,  designed  to  aid  you 
in  your  preparation  for  death,  I  now  take  my 
leave  of  you.  And  surely  there  is  no  subject  with 
which  I  might  more  properly  conclude  these 
letters  ;  for  this  is  the  point  in  which  they  are  all 
designed  to  terminate.  Whatever  other  purpose 
might  be  answered  by  them,  it  would  be  with  me 
a  matter  of  little  moment,  provided  they  should 
have  no  effect  in  preparing  you  for  death  and 
eternity.  I  here  repeat  what  I  said  at  the  begin- 
ning, that  though  you  should  possess  every  ami- 
able quality,  and  every  accomplishment  which 
your  friends  could  desire,  I  could  contemplate 
your  condition  only  with  the  deepest  concern  and 
sorrow,  if  I  were  compelled  to  regard  you  a  stranger 
to  godliness,  and  exposed  to  perdition. 

Let  me  entreat  you  then,  my  dear  child,  as  you 
regard  the  tenderest  sensibilities  of  a  father's  heart, 


A     DAUGHTFR.  305 

as  you  regard  the  hopes  which  were  formed  in 
respect  to  you  by  a  mother  who  loved  you  and 
blessed  you  in  death,  and  as  you  regard  the  wishes 
and  prayers  of  another  mother,  who  has  watched 
over  your  infancy,  and  cherished  and  counselled 
your  childhood  —  let  me  entreat  you  to  endeavor 
to  conform  your  character  to  the  standard  which 
has  been  exhibited  in  these  letters.  Let  me  only 
see  this,  and  I  am  sure  I  shall  never  cease  to  bless 
God  that  I  have  written  them.  Give  me  but  this 
joy,  and  though  I  should  be  called  to  leave  you 
while  you  are  yet  young,  in  this  cold,  ungrateful 
world,  I  could  leave  you  without  a  chill  of  appre- 
hension, fully  persuaded  that  you  would  enjoy  the 
gracious  protection  of  God  while  here,  and  mingle 
in  the  refined  and  noble  communion  of  the  redeem- 
ed hereafter. 

That  the  perpetual  blessing  of  a  covenant  keep- 
ing God  may  rest  upon  you,  is  the  most  earnest 
prayer  of 

Your  Devoted   Father. 


20 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 

§Wffif§- 
PRACTICAL   ELOCUTION: 

NOTICES  AMD  PJIOOIMEIEDATIONS, 


From  the  Albany  Argus. 

Sweet's  Practical  Elocution,  designed  as  a  Text  and  reading 

Book  in  Common  Schools  and  Higher  Institutions. 

This  work  is  now  stereotyped  and  published  by  E.  II.  Pease, 
of  this  city.  The  author  has  carefully  revised  the  work,  and 
made  some  important  additions.  The  first  54  pages  comprise 
observations  on  Elocution,  a  phonological  exhibition  of  the  ele- 
mentary sounds  of  the  English  language,  illustrations  and  exam- 
ples for  exercises  in  articulation,  emphasis,  quantity,  climax, 
rhetorical  pause,  and  inflections  of  the  voice.  The  remaining 
25S  pases  contain  137  pieces  for  exercise  in  reading  and  recita- 
tion, selected  from  the  best  and  purest  writings  oi  the  present 
and  former  a?es.  To  furnish  an  agreeable  variety  of  exercises 
for  schools,  a"  number  of  pieces  have  been  inserted,  which  are  as 
suitable  for  sinking  as  for  elocutionary  reading. 

But  the  peculiar  feature  of  this  work,  which  pre-eminently 
distinguishes  it  from  all  others  on  the  subject,  is,  the  Explana- 
tory Notes  attached  to  each  piece.  Tnese  may  be  regarded  as 
the  sine-qua-non— the  indispensable  condition  of  correct  and  ele- 
gant recitation,  and  of  good  reading. 

The  work  appears  in  a  tasteful  and  substantial  form,  and  does 
credit  to  the  publisher. 


Notices  and  Recommendations  of 

Extract  from  a  Recommendation  furnished  by  S.  W.  Seton,  Esc£.? 

Agent  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

Having  examined  Mr.  Sweet's  work  on  Practical  Elocution,  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  express  my  favorable  opinion  of  his  system, 
believing  it  to  be  better  adapted  to  common  schools,  and  every 
purpose  of  rhetorical  instruction,  than  any  other.  Being 
a  natural  system,  it  cannot  but  be  both  easily  comprehended  and 
practised.  It  is  to  be  wished,  that  a  system  so  true  to  nature 
may  prevail  and  give  the  breath  of  life  to  the  future  orators  of 
the  American  forum  and  senate.  The  selections  for  exercise,  so 
far  as  I  have  examined,  seem  worthy  of  approval,  as  tests  of 
rhetorical  skill,  and  a  medium  of  pure  moral  impressions.  The 
explanation  of  the  subject  matter  of  each  extract  is  a  useful 
guide  and  model  in  practice,  and  the  teacher  will  find  it  easy  to 
extend  still  further  such  necessary  descriptions  previous  to  read- 
lag  or  reciting. 

New  York,  June  17,  1846, 

From  L.  P.  Brockett,  M.  D.,  of  Hartford,  Ct. 

Sweet's  Practical  Elocution. — It  is  with  sincere  pleasure, 
and  from  a  full  conviction  of  its  merits,  that  the  writer,  after 
careful  examination,  recommends  the  work  of  Prof.  Sweet,  to 
the  attentton  of  teachers,  and  the  public.  The  work  possesses 
three  prominent  excellencies,  which  give  it  a  strong  claim  upon 
the  public  regard.    These  are, 

1st.  This  system  of  Elocution  is  natural  and  easy,  and  at  the 
same  time  eminently  philosophical ; 

2d.  The  selections  are  generally  new  and  made  with  great  care 
and  judgment. 

3d.  The  Historical,  Biographical  and  Critical  Notes,  appended 
to  each  selection,  render  the  work  highly  valuable. 

As  an  illustration,  take  Webster's  version  of  the  speech  of  John 
Adams,  in  defence  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  How 
does  the  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  in  which  Adams  was 
placed,  heighten  our  admiration  for  his  patriotism,  and  lead  us, 
imbued  with  the  same  spirit,  to  enunciate  those  noble  senti- 
ments, in  some  measure,  as  he  himself  would  have  done.  And 
with  how  much  more  pathos,  can  we  read  that  sweet  little  lyric 
of  Gen.  Morris,  "  Woodman,  spare  that  tree,"  after  learning  the 
interesting  incident,  related  on  the  148th  page.  The  only  won- 
der is,  that  writers  on  Elocution  have  not,  ere  this,  perceived 
the  necessity  of  this  aid,  in  the  delivery  of  their  selections.  The 
notes,  so  far  as  we  have  had  opportunity  of  verifying  them,  seem 
remarkably  free  from  errors  in  regard  to  facts,  and  the  known 
reputation  of  the  Profesfor,  is  sufficient  guaranty  of  the  accu- 
racy and  correctness  of  his  directions  for  reading.  The  style  in 
which  the  work  is  brought  out,  is  very  creditable  to  its  worthy 
publisher,  Mr.  E.  H.  Pease. 

Hartford,  Ct.,  June  22,  1846. 


Sweet's  Practical  Elocution. 

From  the  Saratoga  Republican. 

Sweet's  Elocution. — With  pleasure  we  announce  a  new 
and  greatly  improved  edition  of  this  valuable  school  book.  It 
has  already  passed  through  three  editions,  and  now  comes  to  us 
in  a  fourth,  revised  with  the  greatest  care,  and  made  permanent, 
at  the  stereotype  establishment  of  the  Messrs.  Davisons,  of  this 
village. 

To  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  book,  we  would 
say,  with  assurance,  that  it  will  meet  with  approval.  Examine 
the  work.  Independent  of  the  admirable  directions  for  speak- 
ing and  reading,  the  choice  extracts,  of  which  the  book  is  mostly 
made  up,  will  well  repay  the  perusal.  We  hope  this  book  may 
be  introduced  into  our  schools,  and  as  a  consequence,  that  the 
rising  generation  may  be  readers  and  speakers  who  do  not  vio- 
late every  rule  of  natural  elocution. 

From  the  Hon.  Alfred  Conkling,  Judge  of  the  United  States 
Courts. 
Owasco,  (near  Auburn,)  April  26,  1841. 
Having  examined  "  Sweet's  Elocution,"  it  affords  me  pleasure 
to   recommend   it   for  reading   and   declamation   in    American 
schools.     The  notes  appended  to  the  pieces  are  instructive  and 
useful,  and  render  it,  in  connection  with  its  other  merits,  prefer- 
able to  any  other  work  of  its  kind  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 

ALFRED  CONKLING. 

From  the  Hon.  Reuben  Hyde  Walworth,  Chancellor  of  the 
State  of  New-  York . 

Saratoga  Springs,  July  28,  1845. 
Dear  Sir — I  have  examined  your  "  Practical  Elocution,  so  far 
as  my  time  would  allow,  and  am  satisfied  it  is  a  valuable  school 
book  for  the  instruction  of  youth,  in  the  principles  as  well  as  the 
practice  of  reading  and  speaking  well.  It  may  also  be  studied 
with  profit  by  most  persons  who  are  more  advanced  in  life.  I 
therefore  trust  you  will  be  successful  in  the  new  edition  which 
you  propose  to  stereotype.        Yours,  &c. 

R.  HYDE  WALWORTH. 
S.  N.  Sweet,  Professor  of  Elocution. 

From  Gov.  Seward. 

Albany,  Nov.  28,  1839. 
My  Dear  Sir — I  return  you  my  thanks  for  your  kindness  in 
sending  me  a  copy  of  your  useful  work  on  Elocution.  I  have 
carefully  examined  it,  and  am  satisfied  that  it  will  prove  emi- 
nently useful  in  our  public  schools.  Accept  my  congratulations. 
It  ought  to  be  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  you  that  you  have, 
accomplished  a  work  which  will  exert  a  beneficial  influence  in 


Notices  and  Recommendations  of 

the  education  of  our  countrymen.    With  sincere  wishes  for  your 
continued  usefulness,  I  remain  your  old  friend  and  obedient  ser- 
vant, WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Samuel  N.  Sweet,  Esquire,  Professor  of  Elocution. 

The  Opinion  of  Rev.  Ika  Mayhew,  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools  in  the  county  of  Jefferson,  now  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  for  the  State  of  Michigan. 

Professor  Samuel  N.  Sweet  : 

Dear  Sir — Soon  after  the  first  edition  of  your  "  Elocution"  was 
published,  I  purchased  a  copy,  with  the  examination  of  which, 
I  was  so  well  pleased,  that  I  immediately  introduced  it  as  a  text- 
book into  the  Seminary,  then  under  my  supervision.  It  was  a 
favorite  work  with  my  pupils,  and  was  by  many  of  them  perused 
not  only  with  great  pleasure  but  with  much  profit.  Indeed,  I 
have  never  known  advanced  students  use  any  other  reading  book 
with  so  much  of  both  pleasure  and  profit.  The  explanatory 
notes  accompanying  the  pieces,  add  much  to  the  value  of  the 
work. 

I  remain  as  ever,  yours  truly, 

IRA  MAYHEW. 

iidams,  Jefferson  co.,  N.  Y.,  January  1,  1843. 

The  Opinion  of  the  Committee  on  Books,  extracted  from  the  He- 
port  o  their  Chairman,  Rev.  John  Sessions,  of  Sandlake, 
made  to  the  County  Education  Society,  of  the  county  of  Rensse- 
laer, and  adopted,  June  27,  1845. 

••  Sweet's  Elocution  is  sufficiently  recommended  by  being  used 
in  some  twenty  Academies  in  the  state  of  New-York,  under  the 
care  of  the  Regents  of  the  University.  The  elements  of  good 
reading  and  speaking  are  forcibly  set  forth  by  Professor  Sweet, 
and  the  pieces  for  practice  are  of  the  highest  order." 

The  Opinions  of  Rev.  George  W.  Eaton,  D.  D.,  Professor  of 
Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy,  and  Rev.  Asahel  C. 
Kendrick,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Lan- 
guages in  the  Theological  and  Literary  Institution  at  Hamil- 
ton, N.  Y. 

11  We  have  examined  '  Sweet's  Elocution, '  and  we  think  it  is 
a  very  excellent  work  on  that  important  branch  of  education. 
The  pieces  which  it  contains,  accompanied  as  they  are  by  ex- 
planatory notes,  are  well  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  teaching, 
and  learning  reading  and  oratory.  They  are  moreover  of  a  hig4i 
order  in  their  moral  tone.  We  should  be  glad  to  see  this  book 
in  general  use  in  our  institutions  of  learning. 

GEORGE  W.  EATON, 
ASAHAL  C.  KENDRICK. 

Hamilton,  Nov.  33d,  1843. 


Sweet's  Practical  Elocution. 

From  Lorenzo  L.  Baker,  Esquire,  Town  Superintendent  of  the 
Town  of  Lee,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y. 
We  have  succeeded  in  introducing  more  than  two  hundred  co- 
pies of  Professor  Sweet's  invaluable  work  on  elocution  into  the 
common  schools  of  the  town  of  Lee.  As  a  finishing  reading 
book,  we  must  give  it  a  decided  preference. 

LORENZO  L.  BAKER. 
Lee  Centre,  February  7th,  1846. 

The  opinion  of  the  Committee  on  Books,  extracted  from  their 
Report,  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  City  of 
Rochester,  October  5,  1S43,  which  on  motion  was  adopted  and 
ordered  to  be  published. 

A  work  entitled  "  Practical  Elocution."  by  Professor  Samuel 
N.  Sweet,  has  been  laid  before  the  committee.  A  brief  examin". 
ation  of  it  has  satisfied  them  that  it  is  a  work  admirably  adapted 
to  improve  pupils  in  the  art  of  speaking  and  reading.  The  se- 
lections are  from  the  best  writers  and  speakers  the  world  has 
known,  and  are  suited  alike  to  pupils  of  common  schools  and 
those  more  advanced.  As  such,  -it  is  earnestly  commended  to 
the  attention  of  the  teachers  of  Public  Schools. 

L.  K.  FAULKNER, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Books. 


The  Opinion  of  the  Hon.  Mr.  Brown. 
Professor  S.  N.  Sweet  : 

Dear  Sir — Your  "  Practical  Elocution"  is,  in  my  judgment,  a 
work  of  superior  merit.  It  contains  a  very  great  variety  of  style 
and  sentiment,  and  the  selections  appear  to  have  been  made  not 
only  with  much  good  taste,  but  with  peculiar  adaptation  to  the 
design  of  the  work. 

A  book  on  Elocution  should  exhibit  the  best  specimens  of 
writing  in  the  language,  and  a  book  to  be  used  as  a  reading  book 
should  aim  not  only  to  instruct  the  head  but  to  cultivate  the 
heart.  This  your  book  will  do,  from  the  fact  that  you  have 
selected  from  the  best  and  purest  writings  of  the  present  age, 
and  of  former  ages. 

There  are  in  this  book  some  pieces  of  chaste  and  sterling  wit, 
some  of  great  pathos,  some  of  extreme  beauty  and  sublimity, 
and  they  are  all  of  great  practical  utility.  The  instruction 
which  the  book  contains  is  calculated  to  be  useful  to  the  reader. 
This  is  a  consideration  very  important  in  a  book  to  be  used  by 
youth. 

The  book  is  valuable  for  the  notes  of  explanation  which  fol- 
low each  extract,  as  well  as  for  the  number,  variety  and  excel- 
lence of  the  extracts  themselves.     I  would  most  cordially  recom- 
mend this  work,  not  only  to  schools  but  to  private  families  ;  it  if 
♦1 


Sweetfs  Practical  Elocution. 

interesting  and  instructive  to  the  general  reader,  as  well  as  to 
the  student  of  Elocution. 

Assembly  Chamber,  Albany,  May  6,  1845. 

LYSANDER  H.  BROWN, 
Late  Dep.  Sup't  of  Jeff,  co.,  and  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Colleges,  Academies  and  Common  Schools  in  the  New-York 
Legislature. 

From  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 

Practical  Elocution,  by  Prof.  S.  N.  Sweet. — The  author 
of  this  work  has  brought  to  his  assistance  an  extensive  and  fa- 
miliar acquaintance  with  the  best  writers  on  Elocution,  and  a 
personal  knowledge  of  the  principal  orators  of  our  county.  Be- 
sides this,  he  has  brought  the  fruits  of  his  own  practice  and  ob- 
servation, which  have  been  extended  for  several  years,  through 
many  of  the  states.  Professor  Sweet  has  shown  himself  to  be 
no  theorist.  His  work  is  highly  practical.  His  very  theory  is 
practice.  He  has  not  attempted  to  lay  down  every  thing  by 
rule,  but  has  left  something  to  the  dictates  of  common  sense  and 
taste.     Multum  in  parvo  seems  to  have  been  the  author's  motto. 

His  "  Select  pieces,"  which  make  the  second  part  of  his  book, 
are  selected  with  great  ability  and  good  taste  from  the  vast  fields 
of  ancient  and  modern  lore,  and  are,  of  themselves,  well  worth 
the  price  of  the  book.  To  these  pieces,  he  has  appended  notes, 
historical  and  critical,  which  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  the 
work.  The  author  does  not  abandon  his  pupil  after  the  pre- 
scription of  a  few  abstract  rules,  but  generously  offers  to  conduct 
him  through  all  those  varied  and  difficult  exercises  by  which  he 
acquires  the  mastery  of  the  science.  This  assistance,  he  has 
greatly  rendered  in  his  notes. 

New-York,  Nov.  29,  1839. 

Want  of  room  obliges  us  to  omit  commendatory  notices  from 
the  following,  among  other  popular  Journals  of  the  day  : 

New  York  Evangelist. 

Auburn  Journal  and  Advertiser. 

Cayuga  Patriot. 

Northern  Advocate. 

New  York  Tribune. 

New  York  Commercial  Advertiser. 

Courier  and  Enquirer. 

New  Yorker. 


SOW  WELL  AND  REAP  WELL : 

Or  Fireside  Education.  By  S.  G.  Goodrich,  author 
of  Peter  Parley' 's  Tales.  Third  Edition.  Albany: 
Erastus  H.  Pease.     1S46. 

This  is  the  title  of  a  neatly  printed  and  well  bound  volume  of 
343  pages,  laid  upon  our  table  by  the  publisher.  The  name  of 
the  author  of  this  excellent  work  is  loo  well  known  to  the  friends 
of  Education,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  to  require  any 
thing-  more  than  a  mere  announcement  of  the  book.  It  is  emi- 
nently practical  in  all  its  suggestions,  and  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  every  parent  and  teacher. 

We  have  only  to  present  a  few  of  the  subjects  considered,  to 
indicate  the  character  of  the  work,  to  wit:  "  Provision  of  Pro- 
vidence that  the  controlling  lessons  of  life  shall  be  given  by  pa- 
rents. The  Fireside.  Obligations  of  parents.  Leading  cha- 
racteristics of  children.  Family  Government,  &c."  There  are 
but  few  even  of  the  best  educated  among  parents  or  teachers, 
who  would  not  be  greatly  benefitted  by  this  work,  and  we  hope, 
for  the  welfare  of  society,  that  this  book  may  be  widely  circu- 
lated and  carefully  read. — Teachers'  Advocate. 

JMaffit's  Magazine,  (edited  by  Rev.  J.  N.  Maffit,)  says: 
The  third  edition  of  this  most  excellent  work,  by  the  far  famed 
Peter  Parley,  should  be  in  the  possession  of  every  family.  In- 
deed, when  we  con  its  pages,  we  wonder  somewhat  how  fami- 
lies get  along  without  it.  It  seems  so  indispensable  to  young 
mothers,  aye,  and  to  young  fathers  too,  and  we  might  safely  add, 
to  a  great  many  old  ones,  that  we  can  never  hereafter  consider 
any  family  library  complete,  or  any  child  dealt  as  fairly  with  as 
it  ought  to  be  where  this  book  is  wanting.  The  very  preface  is 
a  volume  in  itself. 

A  valuable  book  from  the  press  of  E.  H.  Pease  of  this  city. 
The  type  is  very  clear  and  large,  and  the  general  execution  more 
than  creditable.  The  matter  is  decidedly  useful,  and  what  is  of 
not  less  importance,  narrated  in  the  original  vein  of  the  well- 
known  Peter  Parley.  The  most  instructive  lessons  are  soon 
forgotten,  unless  graven  upon  the  memory  by  some  striking  pe- 
culiarity. The  present  work  is  admirably  calculated  for  the 
young  of  both  sexes. — Albany  Atlas. 


Sow  Well  and  Reap  Well. 

The  following  is  from  the  American  Quarterly  Journal  of  Ag- 
riculture and  Science,  edited  by  Dr.  E.  Emmons  and  A.  Osborn, 
Esq. 

Mr.  Goodrich,  the  author  of  the  work  entitled  Sovj  Well  and 
Reap  Well,  is  known  wherever  the  young  are  permitted  and 
encouraged  to  read;  he  has  scattered  precious  seed  over  the  hills 
of  New  England,  and  upon  the  prairies  of  the  west  and  south  of 
our  great  country;  and  even  on  the  shores  of  Europe  it  has 
fallen,  and  in  his  own  day  he  has  gathered  the  mature  and  rip- 
ened fruit.  The  special  object  of  the  author  of  this  work  is  to 
enforce  the  doctrine,  that  none  need  expect  to  reap  a  better  fruit 
than  he  has  sown.  The  doctriue  is  based  upon  a  natural  law, 
and  is  illustrated  and  enforced  by  the  common  results  and  expe- 
rience of  every  day. 

It  is  by  such  books  as  this  circulating  throughout  our  country, 
that  we  hope  to  see  the  true  ends  and  aims  of  life  distinctly  com- 
prehended, and  as  positively  acted  upon.  And  at  such  times  as 
these  upon  which  we  have  fallen,  do  we  need  checks  to  certain 
evils  which  are  growing  up  in  the  literary  and  political 
worlds. 

This  work  is  intended  to  illustrate  "  Fireside  Education,"  and 
every  page  is  replete  with  original  thought  and  valuable  counsel. 
This  is  the  third  edition,  and  is  published  by  E.  H.  Pease,  Book- 
seller, State  street.  We  cordially  recommend  it  to  all,  as  a  book 
to  be  read  with  profit. — Albany  Citizen. 

I  have  read  with  great  pleasure,  Fireside  Education,  and  be- 
lieve it  is  not  only  much  needed,  but  well  calculated  to  advance 
the  noblest  work  of  man,  the  tuition  of  the  heart. — Hon.  D.  P. 
King,  of  the  Mass.  Senate. 


The  exceeding  great  popularity  of  Mr.  Goodrich's  writings 
will  secure  to  this  work  a  favorable  reception,  and  indeed  it  de- 
serves such  a  reception. — Annals  of  Education. 


This  work  may  be  read  with  a  vast  deal  more  profit  and 
pleasure  than  can  be  obtained  from  most  books  on  education. 

The  principles  of  morality  and  intellectual  culture  are  treated 
in  a  style  at  once  simple  and  familiar. — New  England  Papers. 


A  noble  work — the  author  speaks  to  men,  to  Americans,  and 
Christians,  in  a  dignified  and  powerful  manner,  and  it  deserves 
the  earnest  consideration  of  all. — N.  Y.  Evangelist. 


Sow  Well  and  Reap  Well. 

Chaste  and  energetic  in  style,  and  every  page  imparting  a 
sound  and  rational  philosophy. — Troy  paper. 

Mr.  Goodrich  is  a  great  benefactor  of  the  human  race.  He 
has  long  beon  devoted  to  the  benevolent  object  of  establishing  a 
proper  system  of  education. — New  York  Paper. 

It  is  written  in  a  style  of  elegant  simplicity,  and  the  subjects 
discussed  are  rendered  as  brilliant  as  noonday. 

Fireside  Education  is  one  of  the  best  books  ever  published  on 
this  subject. 

Simple,  concise,  and  like  every  thing  from  the  pen  of  Peter 
Parley,  exceedingly  instructive. — Philadelphia  Papers. 

Perhaps  no  volume  ever  issued  from  the  American  press  of 
greater  practical  utility  than  Fireside  Education. — Baltimore 
Papers. 

It  mainly  teaches,  in  a  most  beautiful  style,  and  with  pertinent 
and  interesting  illustrations,  those  truths  concerning  the  forma- 
tion of  character  by  domestic  influences  which  have  been  well 
established  by  the  common  sense  and  experience  of  mankind. — 
New-York  Observer. 


CATECHISM  OF 

AGRICULTURAL  CHEMISTRY 

AND  GEOLOGY: 

By  James  F.  W.  Johnston,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  SS.  L.  &  E 

loith  an  Introduction  by  John  Pitkin  Norton,  of 
Farmington,  Connecticut. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

From  Hon.  Samuel  Young,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Superintend- 
ent of  Common  Schools  of  the  State  of  New  York  : 

I  have  carefully  examined  the  Catechism  of  Professor  John- 
ston, on  Agriculture.  It  is  the  only  scientific  work  on  that  sub- 
ject  I  have  ever  seen,  which  by  its  shortness  and  simplicity  is 
adapted  to  the  capacity  of  children;  and  which,  on  being  illus- 
trated by  cheap  and  simple  experiments,  as  he  recommends, 
cannot  fail  to  make  a  lasting  impression  on  the  juvenile  mind. 

It  gives  the  analysis  of  different  plants,  of  animals  and  of 
soils,  exhibiting  the  organic  and  inorganic  substances  of  which 
they  are  composed,  and  teaching  the  important  truths  that  vege- 
tables derive  a  part  of  their  nourishment  from  the  air,  and  the 
remainder  from  the  earth;  that  different  vegetables  require  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  food,  and  in  variable  quantities;  that  the  soil 
may  be  destitute  of  nutrition  for  one  kind  of  plant,  and  not  for 
another:  and  the  means  are  explained  of  supplying  to  an  ex- 
hausted or  meagre  soil  its  deficiencies.  It  also  gives  the  ration- 
ale of  the  dairy  and  the  fattening  of  animals. 

This  little  work  is  the  basis  of  both  agricultural  art  and  sci- 
ence. A  knowledge  of  its  principles  is  within  the  comprehen- 
sion of  every  child  of  twelve  years  old  ;  and  if  its  truths  were 
impressed  on  the  minds  of  the  }oung,  a  foundation  would  belaid 
for  a  vast  improvement  in  that  most  important  occupation  which 
feeds  and  clothes  the  human  race.  Instead  of  conjecture,  and 
hazard,  and  doubt  and  experiment,  as  heretofore,  a  knowledge 
of  the  composition  of  soils,  the  food  of  plants,  and  the  processes 


Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology. 

of  nature  in  the  culture  and  growth  of  crops,  would  elevate  agri- 
.    Culture  to  a  conspicuous  rank  among  the  exact  sciences. 

I  hope  that  parents  will  be  willing  to  introduce  this  brief  Cat- 
echism into  the  Common  Schools  of  this  State. 

«,      T  s-  YOUNG. 

Albany,  2-ith  January,  1845. 

Yale  College  Laboratory,         ? 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  20th  January,  1845.  5 

I  have  read  with  great  pleasure  and  profit  the  condensed  little 
Agricultural  Catechism  of  Prof.  James  F.  W.Johnston  of  Scot- 
land. Like  every  production  of  his  pen,  it  is  characterized  by  a 
sound,  practical  good  sense,  which  adds  double  value  to  his  sci- 
entific labors,  rendering  them  available  to  the  very  class  for 
whom  they  are  more  especially  designed— practical  farmers. 

I  learned  with  pleasure  from  Prof.  Johnston,  that  Mr.  John 
P.  Norton  was  about  to  edit,  with  an  introduction,  his  Agricul- 
tural Catechism.  This  American  edition  should  be  in  "every 
village  school  in  the  land,  as  being  within  the  comprehension  of 
all  intelligent  children ;  and  it  cannot  indeed  be  too  highly  re- 
commended to  the  attention  of  all  classes  of  teachers,  as  the  best 
synopsis  yet  made  of  the  valuable  facts  and  principles  which 
have  been  established  in  the  important  science  of  agriculture. 

B.  SILLIMAN,  Jr. 

I  consider  J.  F.  W.  Johnston's  Catechism  of  Agricultural 
Chemistry  and  Geology,  to  be  extremely  well  adapted  to  the  use 
of  schools,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  introduced  as  a  text-book  into 
all  our  rural  districts  where  farming  is  the  principal  employ- 
ment of  the  population.  The  time  has  come  when  agriculture 
is  to  be  taught  as  a  science  as  well  as  cultivated  as  an  art,  and  a 
little  book  like  this  sheds  more  light  on  the  nature  of  soils,  the 
elementary  principles  of  plants,  and  the  food  necessary  for  'their 
growth  and  maturity,  in  a  small  compass,  than  any  other  publi- 
cation I  have  ever  seen.  The  youthful  mind  can  easily  be  made 
to  comprehend  the  principles  it  teaches,  and  we  are  wanting  to 
our  own  and  the  great  interests  of  our  country,  if  at  this  time  we 
do  not  do  all  in  our  power  to  create  a  taste  and  diffuse  a  know- 
ledge of  so  important  a  pursuit. 

J.  P.  BEEKMAN, 

v.    ,    v     ,     T       "        Late  President  of  N.  Y.S.  A.  Society. 
Kinderhook,  Jan.  22,  1845.  J 

Having  examined  Professor  Johnston's  Catechism  on  Agricul. 
tural  Chemistry  and  Geology.  I  most  cordially  unite  in  the  re- 
commendation of  the  work.  Its  introduction  into  our  Common 
Schools,  will  form  a  new  era  in  the  education  of  our  children. 
The  time  has  arrived  in  which  every  proper  effort  should  be 


jgriculturd  Chemistry  and  Geology. 

■>  4-^v,  tn  iV»p  yWiq<*  generation  as  will 
made  to  give  such  an  ednca t  on  to he  ^  5UcceSs,olly  to 
prepare  them  ^WP£>  which  most  of  them  are 
follow,  the  pnn^.^^S^'StjWsut*  to  do  all  in  my  power 
designed,  ^s"|      ™J^L  I  doubt  „ol  will  produce 

aome,  Jan.  23d,  1845;  _P«,,  N.  V.  State  A,.  Society, 

From  (As  -am.  «ua««ru  established,  that  it  is 

TherepntaUonomisw^  r 'ojell.esja^  .(    ^  . 
hardly  "pessary  at  tl^lat-d^  (  ^  p 

tainly  as  nseful  to  a  ,ai   e  "a-=  lain5  all  the  elements  ot 

schools.     It  is  Plain,  simple,  and  cr n  „      work 

agriealtnralchemi^anda.Jone;  ,f  ^  ^  ^  ^  ord, 

„CatrSnraUon*.s  oTUtaWj.     ^  -       pocl;ets,  fot  iri. 
strnStioS,  whil'e  tlUfteani  are  ^m^thef arrow.    __ 

Foundei  on  p*  *W^!^^f 

COXTENTS-OUTUNE  OF  THE  BISTOnV  Mj^fH'  j,,  Dan. 

/. ;„;„v  mm  treatment,     o.  ucui^ci  «;j»tv.     5. 


Lieuer  i. -^""c .^^t      q    Danger   rouiuiiis"1  -J 

from  being  i?*™^*^*?  SeS  wealth,  8.  Integrity.  9. 
from  coming  into  possession  ot   grea ■  Sympathy.     13. 

Diligence.  10.  Economy,  ^pg^*^..  15.  Dependence 
Forgiveness  of  Injuries.  W^n»i«B  n  y}rtue  crowned 
iolpnj       16    Virtue  crowned  with  sal cty.  virtue  crown- 

i^o^^ 

crowned  with  heaven.        ^^^ ^^  ^— 

-^c^iraotioat  S^  to  a  K0M  ■ 

BV  Wm.  13-  Sprague,  D.  D.     i  i«. 
CoNTENT!i,  Introduction.    %£%£^.J£«. 

17'  Stfenrrn2ie  Chrlti"  "eal.     22.  Improvement  of  lunc 
^"preparation  for  Death. 


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